It only takes a lie
by FiliKiliThorinforever
Summary: Fíli is looking forward to the arrival of his new sibling. The day before his siblings birth however, a group of human children tell him the 'reason' for there being so few dwarfling's leading Fíli to make a drastic decision about his future.
1. If only to see you smile again

**As much as it breaks my heart I do not own the writings or the characters of The Hobbit or Lord of the Rings, they are the wonderful and exclusive workings of J.R.R Tolkien**

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><p>It was a mid-Summers morning in Ered Luin. The clouds over the village were scarce, but if one was to gaze to the hills, a storm could be seen brewing in the South. Storms weren't particularly common this time of year, but then again, the last few weeks hadn't exactly gone as expected either. A great battle between the dwarves of Erebor, led by the yet to be crowned Thorin Oakenshield against an army of 100 Orcs had occurred in the forests outside of town. Many dwarves had fallen; in fact more had died than survived, including Thorin's brother-in-law, his sister's husband and the father to Thorin's only nephew and heir, Fíli.<p>

Telling Dís, his beloved sister and only surviving family member, that her husband had been slain had been hard. In fact having to tell her and cause her pain like he did had been heart wrenching. It had been even harder watching her trying to control her grief because of the fact she was nearing the end of her pregnancy, waiting to welcome another child into the world.

Child bearing for dwarven women was difficult enough as it was, but trying to stop stress or, in Dís's case grief, from killing an unborn child was a difficult battle. And their family had suffered enough death in Thorin's lifetime that he refused to allow his sister to succumb to grief and lose her child. He had moved into Dís' house in order to look after her, to encourage her to grieve but in a manner that would be safe for both her and the baby.

Of course, it wasn't just Dís that was mourning the loss of a loved one. Fíli, his nephew, his heir, his shining golden light and boundless energy had lost his father. When his father had gone to fetch his weapons Fíli had been standing by the door watching him prepare for battle. He watched silently as his mother and father said goodbye, one promising to return and the other promising to be there waiting, no matter how long it took. Thorin arrived at the door at this point and he swept his sister into a hug before planting a kiss on her forehead, promising they'd both return, and then telling his brother-in-law that they needed to leave. Fíli's father stopped by the door and crouched in front of his son, and Fíli wrapped his arms around his father as hard as he could.

"Pwease don't leave daddy." Fíli whimpered quietly, his head buried in his father's neck.

"I'm sorry Fíli, I have to. Someone has to protect you and mummy." His father replied in a wavering voice. He wrapped his arms around the small boy and stood so he could squeeze him tightly.

"You'll come back wight? You'll be there in the morning when I wake up, just wike every morning?" Fíli whispered back.

If hearts could shatter, then Thorin's would have shattered where he stood. He hated having to drag his brother-in-law out to fight but there was no choice. A large contingent of dwarves had left not a week earlier for an extensive hunting trip to secure supplies for the coming winter, so they weren't left with many dwarves to defend the village.

He watched the pause that occurred before the older blonde dwarf nodded in response to his young son. "Yes Fíli, I will be there tomorrow morning, I promise. Just like every morning. Now, until then I need you to be brave and do exactly what mummy tells you to ok?" He felt the little dwarfling nod against his shoulder, and shockingly blue eyes swimming in tears met his as Fíli lifted his head. He pressed his forehead to his sons and then replaced it with a kiss before placing him back on the ground. Fíli ran to Thorin next, wrapping his little arms around his uncle's leg, Fíli couldn't quite reach around both yet.

"Pwease come back Unca Thowin. You and daddy must both come back! Pwomise?!" Fíli pleaded, his lower lip trembling.

Thorin cupped a hand around his nephews face "We will little one. I promise." And with that both dwarves strode out the door, leaving a terrified dwarfling and an anxious dwarrowdam behind.

Two dwarves strode out the door that night, but only one returned. It was early in the morning when Thorin, bloody, injured and battle weary limped through the door to find Dís and Fíli curled up on a couch they'd dragged into the kitchen. Dís awoke with a start brandishing a sword she'd hidden off to the side before she realised that it was Thorin who had arrived. Fíli had woken with a start cowering into the couch as Dís had leapt up leaving him no protection.

"Thorin!" Dís cried "Thank Mahal you're alive! But where's…." she trailed off as she saw the look of grief in her brothers' eyes. "No…. no, no, no, no" she whispered, shaking her head, tears flowing freely down her face.

"I'm so sorry Dís" Thorin said striding over and wrapping his arms around his sister and burying his face in her hair. "He fell defending me. I wouldn't be here if not for him."

Fíli had watched the exchange silently, tears welling up in his eyes, and before Thorin or Dís could stop him, Fíli went tearing out the door and down the road, screaming for his father. Thorin and Dís had been wrapped in their embrace and their grief, and when they heard the door slam open they looked in horror as the golden haired child disappeared into the night, before Thorin was hot on his heels.

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><p>Thorin shook his head to clear the horrible memory. The pain of losing yet another family member clear in his mind, but the cries of grief from his nephew, the pain and suffering of trying to understand that his father would never kiss him good morning in those incredibly blue eyes were etched in his mind forever.<p>

Thorin sighed and looked down at the blonde dwarfling walking silently beside him. Thorin was taking Fíli to spend the day at Bofur's toyshop, the toymaker had told Thorin that he had come up with some new toys that he wanted Fíli to try out before selling them, but in truth all of Thorin's and Dís's close friends had secretly been worried about the child.

Dís had told Thorin that she didn't want anyone coming to the house, her reason being if she wasn't being asked how she was she'd be able to control her emotions until the baby arrived. She told Thorin that it was the only way to ensure the safety of the baby and she certainly wasn't going to lose this new and last connection to her husband.

However by stopping people from visiting her, she had also stopped people from seeing Fíli. Thorin would come home from the forge in the afternoons to see his nephew sitting in the yard in front of the house playing quietly with some blocks, all his toy soldiers had mysteriously gone missing the day after the fight, and not by the adults doing either. Fíli would look up at his uncle with no trace of emotion as he neared, and would then go back to playing with his toys.

The absence of a greeting, whether it was words or a smile, or both which was generally the case, left Thorin feeling miserable and empty. He had voiced his concerns about Fíli to his closest friends Dwalin and Balin, who had since started going home the long way, past Dís' house to check up on Fíli from a distance, as had others Thorin was close with, one of those being Bofur. The emptiness in Fíli's eyes, the slump in the normally excitable posture had affected the toymaker so much that he decided to create something new, just for Fíli, so that, if even just for a moment, everyone could witness the golden haired boys smile again.

"Do you know where we're going today?" Thorin asked Fíli gently, watching his nephew closely.

"No Unca Thorin" Fíli replied in a neutral tone, still looking ahead.

"Well I won't tell you then, I'll let it be a surprise" Thorin said, smiling slightly.

Fíli nodded in reply, his head still facing just ahead of him, his shoulders still partially slumped.

Thorin's smile faltered and he sighed. Hopefully Bofur would be able to cheer up his nephew.

As they rounded the corner, Thorin and Fíli spotted Bofur standing outside the toyshop, causing Fíli to stop dead in his tracks.

"Aye Fíli" Thorin said crouching next to his nephew giving him a view of the surprised expression gracing his nephew's features "We've come to see Bofur today." Thorin couldn't help but grin at the small dwarfling who was still standing there in surprise. "Well? Aren't you going to say hello?"

A dazzling smile broke on Fíli's face. He looked at Thorin briefly with a grin before sprinting over to Bofur with his arms raised. Thorin stood grinning, and hurried after his nephew who had just been swept up into Bofur's arms and twirled around making him giggle uncontrollably.

"Hewo Bofur!" Fíli gasped out, attempting to catch his breath.

"Hello little one! I've missed seeing you." Bofur said holding the dwarfling at arm's length to get a good look at him. Bofur pulled Fíli back to him and sat him on his hip so he could tweak the boys' nose. "And we've missed your smile. All of us have, including your Uncle." Bofur looked at the dwarf who was now standing near Bofur and Fíli with a smile on his face.

"We know it's been tough on you little one. Me, Balin, Dwalin, Oín, Gloín and my brothers, we've all missed seeing you lately. But we've never stopped caring for you, ok? And neither has your Uncle for that matter, so don't for one second think you're alone." He said, finishing sternly. He felt Fíli nod against his shoulder before setting him down.

"You're going to spend the day here alright? I need some help with some new toys and I couldn't think of a better dwarfling to help me. What do you think?" Bofur said with a much more playful tone, and smiling as Fíli's face brightened as he nodded in reply. "Well go on then!" He said nodding towards his toyshop.

Thorin watched his nephew dash through the toyshop door before turning to Bofur with a smile. "Thank you," he said "It's been a while since I've seen Fíli smile like that. I'll pick him up this evening, I've got to help Dís prepare for the baby's arrival, Oín reckons it's due any day now. And I think I'm going to talk to her about this visitor-ban that she's got in place as it hasn't been good for Fíli. He's needed others to be there, one's that didn't break their promise to him, and that hasn't been possible with her ban." Thorin finished sadly.

Bofur nodded in understanding "He'll be alright Thorin, he just needs time." He clapped a hand to Thorin's shoulder and headed towards the door.

"Fíli! I'll pick you up later ok?" Thorin called towards the door. He knew Fíli wouldn't hear him, but it made him feel better that he'd at least tried to tell his nephew where he was going without disappearing on him altogether.

As Thorin walked away, he heard the patter of feet and turned around to see a mop of golden hair flying towards him. Thorin knelt in perfect time for Fíli to launch himself into his arms.

Fíli wrapped his arms around his Uncles neck and pressed multiple kisses to his face "Fank you Unca Thowin!" He said happily, more happily than Thorin had heard since…. Well Thorin wasn't going to dwell on that.

Thorin went to pull away from Fíli so he could plant a kiss on his forehead but Fíli held him tight and put his mouth to his uncle's ear and whispered "I wove's you, Unca, more than anyfing. I wiwll always wove you." And he buried his head in his Uncle's neck.

Thorin was frozen to the spot in which he'd crouched. The amount of tender love that was in Fíli's voice made his heart soar. His nephew would be fine, eventually, but he would heal. He wrapped his muscular arms around his nephew in an embrace, wanting to keep Fíli there in his arms for eternity. Instead he settled for pulling Fíli slightly from him so they could touch foreheads, before Thorin placed his lips to his nephew's forehead.

"Have fun today, and don't cause too much mischief." Thorin said gently with a grin and a wink, looking into his nephew's eyes.

Fíli nodded, grinning widely and ran back to the toyshop, waving over his shoulder as he disappeared through the door.

Thorin sighed, elated and hurried home to tell Dís of Fíli's change.

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><p>Several hours had passed since Thorin had left Fíli at the toyshop. He'd hurried home to find Dís and told her of what had happened with her son. Dís had been delighted with Fíli's response to being left at the toyshop, but she'd also been horrified when Thorin pointed out that it was the no-visitors ban that was affecting the boy the most. She'd put it in place to protect and make it easier on the both of them, but it was only easier on Dís because she'd been through loss before, Fíli hadn't. She told Thorin that she'd make it up to Fíli when he got home, after giving him his favourite meal and lots of kisses and cuddles of course.<p>

"Right" Thorin said, "now to get you sorted to move to the House of Healing until you give birth."

Dís poked out her tongue at that, but didn't argue. And so the rest of the day was spent cooking, packing and making sure everything would be ready for her when she got home.

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><p>Back at the shop, Fíli was sitting at the side of the building in the shade. He'd already discarded several of Bofur's ideas because of them not being good to hold, or fun, or they just looked weird. Those were currently scattered around the base of the tree, Fíli's temporary storage area, whilst Fíli played with a new wooden horse Bofur had made. Fíli liked this horse, he liked it a lot. It was time to play horse racing with it and see if it would be a good steed. He wondered if Bofur would help him paint it.<p>

"Well well well." Looky what we have here boys…" A voice drawled suddenly as a dark shadow fell over Fíli.


	2. A tale told

**A/N**

**Hey guys, wow I must say I am COMPLETELY blown away with the response for this, my phone's been going crazy with all the add's and reviews :) I only joined Fanfic recently and have liked many (clearly) of the Hobbit and LOTR's stories, but have always felt that there aren't enough Fíli-centred ones, so thought I'd try my hand at one as he's my favourite! Am already up to chapter 4 here so will try and get the story done as I'm having a blast writing it! Have never written a story before so bear with me, I do a lot of reading and movie watching so it should make sense, and I have the plot all laid out, so it's going to be a very intense story :)**

**I also apologise to those who when I first posted it; it was called "If only to see you smile" as you can now tell that is the name of the first chapter, had a couple of uploading issues, then couldn't access the story, then I could re-access it so I managed to change it to its proper title.**

**I'm also planning on creating a playlist to go with this, I always listen to music when doing assignments and reading, and had thought a while ago that it would be a good idea, so I've decided to give it a shot as it'll make it all the more emotional :)**

**I've decided that the music that I think should accompany this chapter is the extended Mirkwood track from the Desolation of Smaug soundtrack, reason being it's tense throughout and I couldn't find one that worked for the whole chapter as well as what this one does. If you have a track that works better let me know, but I'm happy with this one. Don't worry, I have some really emotional tracks coming up for future chapters ;)**

****As much as it breaks my heart I do not own the writings or the characters of The Hobbit or Lord of the Rings, they are the wonderful and exclusive workings of J.R.R Tolkien****

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><p>A dark shadow fell over Fíli as he sat there contemplating how best to trial his new wooden horse.<p>

"Well well well." Looky what we have here boys." A voice drawled suddenly from behind him. Fíli turned around in shock to look up into the faces of five human boys standing over him, the one in the front with a somewhat evil smirk on his face.

"H-Hewo" Fíli said, gulping nervously. Who were these human boys? He'd never seen them in his life. And where was Bofur? Hopefully the toymaker came for him shortly and scared these boys away; the one in the front didn't look very friendly.

"H-Hewo" The boy in the front mimicked back, before laughing cruelly. "We know who you are, little dwarf and we know about your relationship to Thorin Oakenshield, which is why we came to find you. But before we get any further, allow me to introduce myself and my companions. I'm Drégo, this is Ronhín, Nörda, Télvin and Cardös. We live in the town, and know all about your family and how your father died recently. So sorry for you loss." Drégo said with a mock bow.

Fíli looked at Drégo with watery eyes. He'd managed to avoid thinking about his father all day, in fact it was the happiest he'd been since his father had died. Why did this boy have to bring this up?

"What do you want?" Fíli asked in a small voice.

Drégo pretended to look hurt "we do not want anything, little dwarfling. However when we learnt that Thorin's sister is with child, and then learnt that she is your mother, we knew we needed to speak to you. To tell you something VERY important before the baby arrives so that you could make the most important decision of your life." Drégo spoke with innocence, but his eyes were triumphantly malicious, and unfortunately for Fíli, he was all but drawn in by the voice.

Fíli looked at Drégo with shock. What could this human know about the dwarves and that was deemed so important to know before his sibling arrived? Why not after? And where was Bofur?! But that tone, so innocent, perhaps he had some tips?_ Yes_ thought Fíli, _he only wants to help me with my new sibling_. However Fíli failed to notice the maliciousness in the Drégo's eyes.

"What do I need to know Drégo?" Fíli asked hesitantly

Drégo sat in front of Fíli, his friends following suit. "Well little one…" Drégo began

"Fíli. My name is Fíli." Fíli corrected him gently.

"My apologies Fíli" Drégo said "Well, I believe you need to know something about dwarves and the reason for their difficulty to have children, aside from the lack of dwarven woman." Drégo checked to make sure Fíli's attention was completely on him, and he was not disappointed.

"You see before the dragon attacked Erebor, dwarven children were plentiful. Every family had more than one child, generally three or four, for the dwarven families were able to look after numerous dwarflings. However, after the dragon attacked, and your people were forced to flee, Thrór noticed the suffering of your people, the fact that many were dying due to illness, lack of shelter, but most importantly: the lack of nourishment. It wasn't the grown dwarves that were dying due to starvation, oh no, it was the dwarfling's." Drégo paused looking at Fíli with hidden glee. He had pulled the boy into his story as planned, his mouth hung open and his body was leaning forward slightly as he listened attentively. Drégo fought a smile before continuing on.

"The dwarfling's were dying of starvation, and there was nothing that could be done to save them, despite everyone's best efforts as all the dwarves too were starving, the grown one's just knew how to handle it better. By the time your people reached Ered Luin, only a handful of dwarfling's remained. Once your people were established they met together to discuss what should be done about future dwarfling's, to avoid losing so many ever again you see. After much discussion the dwarves of Erebor decided that only one child was to be had per dwarven family, and so it was written in the rules of your people."

Drégo finished his sentence softly and stared at Fíli, he watched the dwarfling process the information and waited, biding his time, for he knew what question would come next. The one question that could be used to truly break the spirit of this child, and to destroy Thorin Oakenshields' family.

"But..." Said Fíli frowning slightly, trying to think of how to ask his question "If there's only allowed one child, then why is mama having another? Won't she get in twouble?" Fíli asked, his eyes wide. Why would his Uncle let his mama have another baby if he knew she'd get in big trouble?

"Oh no, dear Fíli" Drégo purred, it was time to pounce, to deliver the crushing blow. "She won't get in trouble, if anything, Thorin will be thanking her. You see, the dwarves have what is called a back door to go with the rule. Dwarf families are allowed to have a second child, if the first was a huge disappointment. If the first child failed to turn out the way they were expected to, for any reason, then a second child could be had to 'replace' the first, and the first would just become a spare in the family, required to protect the second because the second is the more important one. Of course, the parents would never tell the child this, they would just let them believe they were important because they got to protect the wanted sibling" Drégo was sure to drag the word 'wanted' out.

Drégo sat back when he realised he'd been leaning forward as he spoke quietly to Fíli. "_Take that, Thorin Oakenshield", _Drégo thought "_now it's your turn to see your family ripped apart, torn away from you out of your control. You had my father arrested for taking back what should have been ours and he wound up dead at the hands of another prisoner. I'm going to watch you as your nephew dies from grief, or maybe I'll put him out of his misery in front of you, we'll see what comes to pass first. Ah, revenge is sweet."_

Fíli sat there processing this information, and this information hit him like a slap across the face. He was a disappointment, he wasn't what his mother and father had wanted; he'd failed them. They had decided to replace him because they no longer loved him. His father had died before he got to meet the son he had truly desired, instead stuck with the memory of a failure. And Thorin, his Uncle whom Fíli loved with all his heart had only been pretending to love him, waiting for another nephew that he could truly love to come along.

Fíli blinked back tears, a small whimper escaping his lips. "_No_,"he thought to himself, trying to push away the feeling of dread, "Drégo _is lying. Unca will pick me up tonight, just wike he pwomised, and he'll kiss me goodnight, wike he always does. And mama will be there to kiss me and tuck me in."_

Before Fíli could tell Drégo what he'd been thinking he heard Bofur calling his name. Drégo and his friends leapt up in fear and ran off. Drégo was the last to leave however as he crouched next to Fíli again and whispered "I know you don't want to believe me, little Fíli, but they no longer love you. I think now is the time to decide what you want your future to be: live unloved forever, or leave and never come back." And with that Drégo was gone.


	3. A decision made

**Alrighty, chapter 3 things start to get intense, but humor before stress is best :) so the first part should make you smile. Two songs to go with this playlist, they are again from the DoS special edition soundtrack, at the moment these songs just seem to fit for some reason, but I assure you it will change. First paragraphs song is "Beyond the Forest" and second and third paragraphs song is "On the Doorstep" for those who love the soundtrack, you'll hopefully be able to pick up on the mood I'm trying to create here. Try and read the last two lines when the music reaches 5:50, just if you want your heart to break for a bit.**

**Also shout out to Lakota1172 ****and Bluestarshine for the encouragements through PM and reviews, and to everyone else who's reviewed, you guys have totally made my day!**

****As much as it breaks my heart I do not own the writings or the characters of The Hobbit or Lord of the Rings, they are the wonderful and exclusive workings of J.R.R Tolkien****

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><p>It was mid-afternoon now, Fíli had been at Bofur's for several hours and Dís had just finished cooking enough food for Fíli and Thorin to live off for the next few days, in fact she'd cooked so much that there was probably enough to feed five fully-grown dwarves for a week. Thorin had said as much on his way to her room to grab her bag for the Healing house.<p>

"Who exactly are you planning on having here Dís? Fíli and I aren't going to get anywhere near finishing this food!" Thorin said munching on an apple and rhubarb scone.

"Thorin Oakenshield! I am not going to subject my son to your cooking ever again. Do you remember what happened last time you tried to make dinner?" Dís replied with an eyebrow arched.

Thorin winced at the memory "Aside from the pair of us wearing most of it and a couple of burns, it wasn't really that bad!" Thorin said somewhat defensively "Right?" he added looking at her uncertainly.

Dís rolled her eyes "you wouldn't know as you left for the Iron Hills that night, but Fíli was sick for an entire week! I decided not to say anything to save your dignity, as it is as soon as he was better he found it extremely entertaining that your food was a better weapon than a meal, but that was only AFTER. I've been using your cooking as a threat of punishment ever since."

Thorin grinned at his sister, of course Fíli would find Thorin's 'inedible food weapons' entertaining. Trying to clean the meal up with Fíli still throwing it around the room and at him with incredibly cute battle cries had felt like he was undertaking an unwinnable quest, but it had kept him in an elated mood throughout his trip to the Iron Hills.

"Alright alright! Point taken, still unless you're planning on us hosting some kind of dinner party in your absence you are mistaken in your fear of us starving sister." Thorin said walking off to her room. Having Dwalin and Balin over for dinner wasn't a bad idea actually, it would give them a chance to see Fíli for the first time since the ban; he decided to invite them over the moment Dís was safely delivered to the Healing House.

Dís chuckled as Thorin left the room and finished setting the plates of food on the table. She covered them over and made sure that everything was well sealed before storing them. She thought back to how she'd walked in the door after visiting a sick friend to find her kitchen plastered with red sauce and gooey chunks of unidentifiable meat dripping down from the ceiling, whilst Thorin and Fíli were crouched behind furniture, Fíli being the closest and throwing the food across the room. Thorin had appeared from behind the table that was currently on its side when he heard the door open, allowing Fíli to land a particularly large glob of food smack in the middle of his face. Dís had looked in shock at her food covered brother before laughing at the sight. Fíli had spun round at the noise and looked horrified that his mother had caught him throwing food, so he scampered to hide behind Thorin's food plastered table, only to be hoisted into the air by Thorin and tickled mercilessly whilst Thorin looked at Dís with a guilty expression.

"Dís?" Thorin had appeared behind her concerned at the fact his sister was shaking. Dís turned around and Thorin relaxed, seeing the smile and muffled laughter that was coming from his sister.

"I'm fine Thorin, I was just thinking about when I came home the night you cooked. It's not everyday someone gets to see Thorin Oakenshield plastered in his own food." Dís gasped for breath as she was now laughing so much. Thorin couldn't help but laugh with her.

Dís gasped suddenly, one hand grasping the table and the other her stomach. She looked down at her stomach in shock then to Thorin.

"Dís! Dís what's wrong? Talk to me!" Thorin said lurching forward to hold his sisters face, trying to understand what had happened.

"Thorin… my water has broken, it's time. He's coming." Dís said looking at her brother with shining eyes. Dís had always been certain the baby was a boy.

Thorin managed to control his emotions. "Alright, time to go then. Come on." Thorin said guiding his sister towards the door.

"Wait! What about Fíli? He's still with Bofur and you're meant to be picking him up soon." Dís said, refusing to move.

Thorin thought quickly "can you make it outside alright? I'll go get Fréya and tell her what's happening." When Dís nodded Thorin went sprinting out the door to the neighbours.

Thorin knocked on Fréya's door hurriedly. "_Come on_," Thorin thought, still hammering on the door "_answer the door Fréya."_ Suddenly the door opened throwing Thorin slightly off balance.

"Thorin!" Fréya said in surprise "What's the matter?"

"Fréya, I need your help." Thorin said relief flooding his voice on finding the young dwarrowdam home.

Fréya was quite young in dwarf years, 80 to be exact. She lived with her mother, father and two siblings, and their family were close friends with Dís. Fréya was often brought over to babysit Fíli whenever Dís had to go out for the day and Thorin was either working or away. Fíli didn't mind, in fact he loved it when Fréya babysat as the pair of them would often go on little adventures around the town or oversee massive battles that would occupy both their houses. She'd also take Fíli climbing and swimming as a regular treat to the point where the pair of them would be passed out from exhaustion on the couch from a long day. She seemed to be the only one capable of keeping up with his limitless energy.

"Fréya, Dís has just gone into labour, I'm going to take her to the Healing House now, but Fíli is still at Bofur's toyshop. Can you pick him up, bring him home and give him some dinner? There's plenty to eat, Dís made sure of it. I probably won't be home tonight so you'll most likely have to stay until morning." Thorin said quickly.

Fréya grinned at Thorin "that's great news! And yes it's no problem, I'll put a bag together and go get him. Would you like me to tell him what's happening?"

Thorin thought about her question momentarily. He knew it would be better if Fíli knew that his sibling was on its way, but in doing that Fíli would most likely try and get to the Healing Houses to see them, and Thorin knew it was probably best for Dís to have some strength returned before trying to handle two children.

"No," Thorin said after a slight pause "It will be easier for Dís if Fíli doesn't know until the baby has been delivered, after all there's still a long way to go before it arrives, anything could happen in the next few hours. Tell him that we had to leave early and that I will be along for him in the morning, but ONLY if he asks, he doesn't need to know otherwise."

Thorin bowed before turning and running back to the house. Fréya followed Thorin and helped him take Dís to the House of Healing (knowing the brother and sister would appreciate the extra help to get there) and waited until Dís was placed in Oín's capable hands before heading back to her house to pack for the night, then going to fetch Fíli.

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><p>Fíli sat there in shock, staring after Drégo's disappearing form trying to figure out what he was supposed to do and believe. Part of him decided that Drégo was lying, his parents and Uncle DID love him, why wouldn't they? They spent lots of time with him; mama always gave him lots of hugs and kisses and gave him an occasional treat if he had been a good boy and Uncle always played games with him and told him bedtime stories.<p>

_That was before daddy died_, Fíli realised. After he had died, his mama had become somewhat distant, never sparing as much time to cuddle him or plant a kiss on his forehead when he wasn't expecting it. And his Uncle had been different around him too, there weren't always stories before bed, and the games were less often as Fíli would have liked, it was reasons like this that Fíli had become miserable. And it was these thoughts that overtook the others, his head echoing with Drégo's voice _"…a huge disappointment… live unloved forever, or leave and never come back."_

"_No," _Fíli thought to himself _"Unca pwomised to pick me up. He said he'd neva bweak a pwomise to me again._ _Drégo was lying, he'll see."_

"Fíli? Fíli where are you?" Called Bofur's voice from somewhere nearby.

Fíli looked up to see Bofurs hat, followed by Bofur himself appear around the side of the toyshop.

"Ah, there you are little one. So, what do you think of the toys?" Bofur looked around the small area and saw several toys scattered around the base of the tree.

"Not too fond of those one's eh?" he said looking at the discarded toys with a grin.

Fíli grinned at him sheepishly "They not good to pway with Bofur." Fíli looked around until he spotted the horse he'd put off to the side when Drégo had arrived and held it up to Bofur.

"I wike's this one Bofur, can we paint it? Pwwweaaasse?" Fíli begged the toymaker, fixing his startling blue eyes on him.

Bofur chuckled and sat down next to him, holding out his hand for the horse which Fíli gave him willingly. Bofur inspected it for a moment to satisfy the youngster, he knew Fíli would go for this toy straight away, and had already decided not to paint it himself for that reason. "Well my boy, it certainly is a sturdy steed. Come on," he said standing up and holding a hand out for the dwarfling so he could pull himself up, which Fíli did with a grin and a jump. "Let's go have a look at the paints in the shop and you can pick the colours you want for the horse."

Fíli squealed in delight and raced off to the front door, with Bofur hot on his heels and Drégo's story all but forgotten.

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><p>An hour later Fíli's horse was no longer the bleak looking wooden horse it had been, it was now an array of different colours; it had a black head and neck with blue dots for eyes, a golden mane and tail, a red torso and two green and two brown legs. When Bofur had asked why the different colours after he let Fíli paint it, the young dwarfling had said that "The black is Unca Thowin's and mama's hair, my eyes are bwue and my hair is gowd, wed wike mama's dwess and our bwood, and gween and bwown cause we wive near a fowest."<p>

Fíli had looked slightly exasperated, as though the toymaker had just asked him what his name was, before turning back to finish his new toy. And Bofur, well Bofur had just sat there completely stunned, Fíli was only five for Mahal's sake, and he could put reasons like that to the colours he had picked? Bofur decided he'd tell Thorin when Fíli was out of earshot as he didn't want to embarrass the lad in front of his Uncle, but knew that he deserved the praise for the meanings behind the colours all the same.

The bell for the toyshop door sounded and Bofur left Fíli out the back to go see who had arrived. As Bofur arrived at the shop counter he saw Fréya looking at a display of baby toys.

"Fréya! How lovely to see you today. Is there anything I can help you with?" Bofur knew Fréya relatively well thanks to Fíli's frequent escapades through the town which always had the toyshop as a destination.

"Hello Bofur" Fréya said with a smile "I'd like to purchase this toy please, it's for Fíli's new sibling."

"Well then, you've made a fine choice my dear." Bofur replied as he packaged and handled the payment for the gift. "Anything else I can help you with?"

"Yes actually. Thorin told me Fíli's here and asked me to pick him up." Fréya dropped her voice "Bofur, Dís has gone into labour, and Thorin doesn't want to leave her side until the baby has arrived. He asked me to pick Fíli up before we took Dís to the Healing House. Could you grab him for me?"

Bofur's eyes widened in surprise "Dís wasn't due for another few days from what Thorin told me, I guess it's a good thing they wanted to move her earlier as everything would have been prepared by now. Come with me and we'll get him yeah?"

Fréya nodded and followed the toy maker out to the paint room where Fíli had just finished his horse and was looking it over. The attention Fíli was paying indicated to Bofur that he'd have a fine eye for all of his work in the future.

"Fíli, look whose here!" Bofur said to the dwarfling.

Fíli looked up and grinned "Hewo Fwéya! Look what I maked!" Fíli pointed to his wooden horse with pride.

"Wow Fíli this is incredible! It looks a bit like you and Thorin you know?" Fréya said with a smile, before entering the room Bofur had explained to her briefly the meanings behind the colours and she could see what he meant now more clearly. She looked at the dwarfling again.

"Fíli, you're coming home with me tonight ok? Thorin can't come get you as something came up, but you'll get to see him tomorrow!" Fréya smiled at the dwarfling who had gone still, and after a moment was given a smile that she loved so much. Fíli with his smile and energy was always the perfect cure for a miserable day.

"Fíli why don't you shift your horse to the shelf and you can pick it up tomorrow once it's dried ok?" Bofur said with a smile and pointing to a shelf the dwarfling would be able to access easily. "Then we'll meet you out front" And with that Bofur and Fréya left the room.

The smile Fíli had given Fréya fell from his face as soon as they had left the room, because on the inside Fíli felt his heart break. Drégo had been right all along. Thorin and his mama didn't love him anymore, Thorin had broken his promise to get him, but Thorin wouldn't see it like that, breaking a promise to someone he didn't care about wasn't really breaking a promise at all now was it? Fíli wiped the tears that had started streaming down his face away. He thought back to the choices Drégo had given him:live unloved forever, or leave and never come back. Fíli still wasn't sure what to do, how was he supposed to know what would be best? He placed his toy on the shelf, wiped his faced dry and followed Bofur out to the front of the shop miserably.

When he got out the front he saw Bofur and Fréya waiting for him. Bofur couldn't help but grin at the misery on the dwarflings face. "Don't despair little one, you will get your toy tomorrow then you can show it off to everyone!" He said, not understanding the real reason for Fíli's mood change. He wrapped Fíli in a tight hug, followed by a pat on the head.

"See you tomorrow!" Bofur said with a chuckle watching the dwarfling and dwarrowdam leave the shop.

Fíli wondered miserably if he'd ever see the toymaker again. Failures didn't get nice things or friends.

On the walk home Fíli stayed quiet, trying to figure out what he should do when they came across a friend of Fréya's working on a large flower bed that weaved in and out of the trees on the side of town.

"Fíli, why don't you pick some flowers for your mama? I'm sure she'd love them from her special boy!" Fréya said with a smile "I'll ask for some extra special ones as well ok."

Fíli nodded in reply and went towards the trees trying to find his mama's favourite flowers before stopping suddenly and looking around. Fréya was busy talking and neither dwarf was looking in his direction. He could see a route to the town walls, and knew one of his secret tunnels were nearby, it was one of the few that only he knew about. His answer to his problem was as clear as if someone had told him outright: leave and never come back.

Fíli looked around one last time and ducked behind a tree, then quietly as a mouse he snuck towards the wall and his new life. As he reached the tunnel he turned to face the town one last time and whispered

"Bye-bye mama and Unca Thowin, I wuvs you." And with that Fíli disappeared.


	4. Lost and found

**Hey hey everybody! So I'm a bit nervous about this chapter as the two new characters are essential for this story, so PLEASE accept them! Besides they're not focused on enough in LOTR so I thought I'd give them a bit of book time :) **

**Special mention to DarylDixon'sgirl1985, PopsShows23, Mira Meliandra, Lakota1172, Ozlex, Bluestarshine, Syblime, Aranel Mereneth, GregsMadHatter, 123petmaster, MotherMountain, SelkieShore and all the guests for all their wonderful reviews! You guys have definitely made this story worthwhile writing! Hopefully I don't disappoint with the remaining chapters!**

**I realise I probably should have written this on all the chapters so will go add it to them now: as much as it breaks my heart I do not own the writings or the characters of The Hobbit or Lord of the Rings, they are the wonderful and exclusive workings of J.R.R Tolkien.**

**The music for this chapter, the extended track of Mirkwood from the DOS soundtrack (yup I know, still haven't managed to move away from it...)**

**Enjoy!**

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><p>Fíli slipped out the tunnel and ran towards a small clearing of trees that would allow him to follow the path from the town safely without being spotted. As soon as he reached the clearing he couldn't help but sink to his knees and cry. Drégo had spoken the truth, everything he thought he had known, and everything he had believed, had all been a lie.<p>

And what would a five-year old dwarfling know about surviving in the wilds? Fíli knew he'd be lucky to survive a few days but there were always carts coming and going from the town, maybe he could find someone to take him in, someone who might eventually, truly love him.

With that in mind, Fíli, son of Dís, daughter of Thraín turned his back on his home for the last time and headed away from Ered Luin.

Fíli hadn't been walking for very long; he'd re-joined the path at this stage as it was more comfortable to walk on in bare feet, tears still falling down his face accompanied by the occasional sob when he heard voices arguing up ahead. Fíli looked from side to side before dashing off the path to his left to allow these people to pass.

"I still don't understand why we're here Elladan. I know Ada is all about trying to make peace with the dwarves, but he sent us specifically to Ered Luin first? Home of Thorin Oakenshield: the-dwarf-who-hates-elves-with-a-passion Thorin Oakenshield? What prank was it that we pulled that he would want us killed for?!" Said one of the voices that was getting closer to Fíli.

"Elrohir, this isn't a death sentence! So quit making it sound so! I agree this is a hopeless task, but we have to try, perhaps he will be more forgiving when he learns that we are not from the Woodland Realm. And if we cannot convince him, perhaps one of his closer advisors who will take our peace offering more seriously can be a bird in his ear to convince him not all elves betrayed him. Besides, you can't tell me you would rather be at home right now, not after our last stunt; I wouldn't be surprised if Ada IS hoping to see us beaten half to death."

There was laughter following this last comment before it was cut short when they heard muffled sobbing in the forest.

Whilst Fíli had waited for the two men to pass he couldn't help feeling alone and unloved in this huge area, with no-one there to kiss him goodnight or offer him a loving smile and these thoughts caused him to cry again. He'd tried his best to muffle it but it attracted the attention of the men anyway.

Elladan and Elrohir looked at each other in puzzlement then back towards the bush.

"Hello there? Are you alright?" Elrohir asked gently. He walked towards the bush only to jump back in surprise when a small child with golden hair dashed forwards and away from them, running as fast as his legs would carry him.

Elladan and Elrohir looked at each other in bewilderment, then at the child before dashing after it. "Wait! Come back!" They yelled.

Longer legs are always an advantage in a chase, as are eyes not swimming in tears that blur your vision. Elladan and Elrohir gained on Fíli easily, and in fact they had to leap over him when he went sprawling as he missed seeing the tree root in the path due to his blurry vision. Elladan and Elrohir wheeled around and crouched next to the dwarfling who was yet to move.

"Are you ok little one?" Elladan asked, tentatively reaching out to touch the dwarflings' shoulder. Fíli lurched backwards into a sitting position at the contact and looked at Elladan and Elrohir in fear.

Fíli looked the two men over then realised in surprise that 'men' wasn't right. "Are you ewves?" He asked sounding surprised but looking terrified at the same time.

"Yes mellon-nín, we are. Tell us, why do you run? And not in the direction of your home either. Are you in trouble or do you run in fear? Someone is going to miss you soon." Elladan asked kindly, offering a hand to the dwarfling to help him stand.

Once Fíli was standing he shook his head "M'not in twouble. And nobody wiwll miss me, I wants to find a new home, not here, nobody wants me anymowe." Misery coloured his tone and neither elf missed it. Elladan and Elrohir looked at each other, then to the dwarfling that was staring at the ground, scuffing his foot slightly.

"What is your name?" Elrohir asked, looking at the dwarfling curiously, an unwanted dwarfling was news to him and Elladan, they had always been told that dwarves look after their own no matter what, so why would this one be treated any different?

"Fíli" Fíli said quietly, still not meeting either elf's eye. He'd always been told that elves were a horrid race, that they were the reason Thorin had been forced to find his people a new home after Erebor. _Thorin_ Fíli remembered; well if Thorin had lied about loving Fíli, maybe he had lied about how bad elves really were. With that thought Fíli looked at both elves and asked quietly "who're you?"

"I am Elladan, son of Lord Elrond of Rivendell, and this is my twin brother, Elrohir." Both elves bowed to Fíli and upon straightening they discovered Fíli had taken off down the road again, the sound of crying floating back to their sharp ears.

The twins looked at each other _"let's follow him and see where he goes" _Elrohir thought

"_Aye, let's let him stop himself, clearly something is upsetting him and I feel uncomfortable leaving him alone out here. Besides, he's heading for our campsite, perhaps we can convince him to stay with us a while."_ Elladan thought in reply to his brother. And so Elladan and Elrohir took after the dwarfling, not wanting to lose him to sinking sun.

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><p>"Fíli! For Mahal's sake! Where are you? This is no longer funny it's time for us to go! What do you think Thorin will say if I tell him you decided to run off for a bit and had me worrying?" Fréya yelled desperately. She had been talking to her friend for about 10 minutes, and had then gone to pick some of the nicest flowers there that her friend was showing her a bit further along. It was only when she went to show Fíli the flowers they would take to Dís the next day that she noticed Fíli's absence, that in itself was half an hour ago.<p>

Fréya spotted her friend in the tree's further down, for she was searching for the missing dwarfling also. "Anything?!" she yelled, panic tinging her voice.

"Nothing! I'm sorry Fréya, it's like he's vanished into thin air!" Was the reply that floated through the orchard.

Fréya grasped at her hair in horror. Where could Fíli have gotten to in 40 minutes? And why would he just run off? He'd never done something like this to her before!

"Who has vanished into thin air?" Asked a voice behind Fréya making her jump in fright and spin around.

"Balin!" Fréya yelped, grasping at her chest to try and slow her breathing.

Balin looked at her apologetically before repeating his question "Who has vanished into thin air Fréya?"

Fréya looked at Balin uncertainly, not sure whether she should tell him about Fíli's disappearing trick or try to brush him off and handle her search alone. She decided that having an extra, more experienced set of eyes wouldn't hurt. "It's Fíli, master Balin. We stopped to pick flowers for him to give to Dís, however when I wasn't looking he gave me the slip, and he isn't responding to any of my calls. I'm worried Balin, I keep thinking something's happened to him."

Balin frowned in concern; he knew Fíli wouldn't disappear without a good reason. "How long has he been missing? Perhaps he is just playing hide-and-seek? Or does he know Dís has gone into labour?"

Fréya shook her head before pausing in surprise "How did you know of Dís? And no, it's not a game of hide-and-seek although I wish it was, he's been gone for just under an hour, and Fíli is yet to know of the arrival of his sibling, Thorin asked that we keep him oblivious until the baby is here." Fréya sunk to her knees and clutched at her head, she just couldn't shake the bad feeling that the reason Fíli wasn't responding was because something had happened to her little shining light.

Balin clasped the dwarrowdams shoulder gently "go to his home Fréya and wait for him there. Perhaps he's already there, or he will turn up there soon enough when it's dinner time. I will go around town and have a look for him before heading to the Healing House. If you wish it, I will tell Thorin that Fíli has, er, wandered off."

Fréya peered up at Balin "thank you, master Balin, you have no idea how much I appreciate your help. But please do not tell Thorin, he has enough to worry about right now without my misplacement of one dwarfling" Fréya let out a small chuckle. "You are probably right as usual anyway; if he's not home already his stomach will drag him there. If I find him I'll be sure to let you know." She took the hand that Balin offered to her and stood up, then went to her friend to tell her to stop looking and headed off in the direction of Fíli's home, praying that it would be occupied by a certain dwarfling when she got there.

"_Please Fíli, be there when I arrive."_ Fréya thought to herself desperately.


	5. Friends of a different kind

**Hey hey everybody. Thanks so much for the reviews for the last chapter! So glad you all liked my addition of the twins, I've really enjoyed writing them! Hope you guys enjoy and let me know what you think!**

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><p>Elladan and Elrohir kept a slight distance between them and the fleeing child. They didn't want to spook the dwarfling anymore than what he already was, but they wanted to be close enough so that should he fall again, or perhaps something darker was to show itself, they'd quickly be able to protect him from harm.<p>

It wasn't long after Fíli had taken off that he started to tire. Elladan and Elrohir saw he was slowing down, so they adjusted their strides to a walking pace until Fíli came to a complete stop, with his shoulders sagging and his head angled at the ground from exhaustion. Elladan and Elrohir crouched in front of the dwarfling.

"Mellon-nín, we are not sure what we said that upset you, but we are sorry. Would you come with us to our campsite, just so you can rest for a while, and we can clean you up?" Elladan asked kindly.

Fíli looked up at the two elves curiously "what does m-m-mewonin mean?" he asked, his tongue stumbling over the new word in an attempt to form it like they had.

"Mellon-nín? It means 'my friend' little one, or if you just need to say 'friend' then the word you use is 'Mellon'." Elrohir said with a smile, this dwarfling, despite his grief was somehow curious about the pair of them.

"You are my m-m-mewonin's?" Fíli asked, still struggling to form the word.

"Yes," Elrohir said with a gentle laugh, whilst Elladan smiled next to him "we are your mellon's. Please, will you come back to our campsite? It's not far from here, just around the corner, down a small slope and on the field by the trees."

Fíli nodded whilst mouthing his new word to himself, it felt funny trying to say it, but he was determined to get it right.

After a short walk Fíli spotted the area where the two elves were camping, there was a small fire pit near the trees, and two horses stood grazing nearby.

"Elrohir why don't you fetch the packs so we can have something comfortable to sit on and can start the fire." Elladan instructed whilst guiding Fíli towards the fire pit. Elrohir nodded at his brother and went over to one of the trees. He glanced at Fíli and noticed the dwarfling was watching him with interest, so he grinned at the child, looked up the tree and tensed his legs, and leapt onto the lowest branches, quickly disappearing from sight as he climbed higher.

Fíli's mouth dropped open at the sight, and not ten seconds later Elrohir was back on solid ground at the base of the tree, clutching two packs in his hands smiling at him again. Elrohir passed his brother his pack and they went about setting their campsite up, while Fíli sat on a small rock nearby watching them with curiosity and hugging himself trying to stay warm.

In no time at all there was a fire merrily crackling away in the fire pit, and Fíli was seated on Elladan's bedroll near it to stay warm. During the setup of the camp the elves had been talking in Elvish too quickly for Fíli to even make out a word, but he watched their graceful movements with awe. He'd always been told that elves were a cruel people, too focused on gems and power to care much for others or the world around them. But watching Elladan and Elrohir made Fíli wonder if that was true, these two were focused on him rather than themselves and would check occasionally to make sure he was warm and comfortable and always offered him a warm smile when they looked at him. Fíli decided he liked these two elves, he liked them a lot.

Once the campsite was set up Elrohir sat down on his bedroll that he had set up near Fíli and Elladan sat next to Fíli with a couple of cloths and a bowl of water. Turning to face the dwarfling Elladan said with a smile "here's some water so you can clean yourself and then we can see the little dwarfling hiding underneath all this dust! Would you like to do it or would you rather I did?"

Fíli looked at Elladan shyly. "I dunna how ta do it" he said quietly.

Elladan grinned at him and picked up the cloth "That's alright mellon, I'll do it for you, but first, let's see if you've got any scrapes or bruises that might need looking at. Can you stand for a moment?" Fíli climbed to his feet and allowed the elves to look him over. All up he had six scrapes that were bleeding lightly, and all gained from his fall, but because of the adrenaline that had been in his system during his running he hadn't noticed any pain when it happened. Now that Fíli was coming down from his adrenaline high, he was definitely beginning to feel them.

"Ow" said Fíli in surprise, looking at the ones on his hands, knees and the two rather large ones on his abdomen.

"Don't worry; we'll get them cleaned out ok?" Elladan said gently. They got Fíli to remove his shirt and had him lay down so they could clean his scrapes easily. Elladan and Elrohir set about cleaning his wounds quickly but gently, trying to avoid as much pain for the dwarfling as possible. When the wounds and his face were clean Elrohir asked his brother something in Elvish and Elladan nodded in reply with a smile.

"Fíli, would you like to see something cool?" Elrohir asked setting his cloth aside and looking at the dwarfling with a grin.

Fíli looked at him curiously before nodding.

"Great! Now the first thing you need to know is that not all elves can do this, in fact there are only a few in Middle Earth who have this ability. The reason we can," Elrohir motioned between himself and Elladan who was rinsing out his cloth "is because our father is one of the most powerful elves in the land." Elrohir was talking with a smile on his face.

"Do what?" Fíli asked curiously, tilting his head to the side.

"Elves can only remove poisons from a person, or delay their effects, they can't actually heal injuries, save for a few of us." To demonstrate, Elrohir took Fíli's hand and placed his hand over the graze. Fíli gasped in pain as he felt a slight burning sensation where his graze was, and when Elrohir removed his hand a patch of pink skin was the only proof an injury had been there.

"It does hurt a little bit unfortunately." Elrohir said to Fíli. He was met with wide eyes and a mouth that was slightly agape.

"You maked it betta!" Fíli said in awe and the brothers grinned back at him. They made short work of his other grazes, each time Fíli winced when he felt the burning sensation, but he didn't cry out again. When they finished, they sat side by side watching as Fíli sat there running his hand over the fresh patches of skin. He looked up with a grin and without warning threw his arms around their waists and hugged them tightly.

"Fankyou!" He said delightedly looking up into their surprised faces. They placed an arm each on his back and patted him hesitantly and looked at each other in surprise, they certainly hadn't expected that.

Once Fíli was finished with his hug he sat back on the bedroll and put his shirt back on. Whilst he was pulling the shirt over his head he missed the nudge that Elrohir gave his brother with a nod at Fíli.

Elladan sighed and nodded. Once Fíli was re-dressed and sitting quietly he spoke up.

"Fíli, I need to ask you something ok?" He waited until Fíli nodded until he carried on. "Elrohir and I want to know why you are running from Ered Luin, what has happened that would make you so upset?

Fíli suddenly looked miserable, with his head bowed he peered up at the elves through his eyelashes and the hair that had moved in front of his face. He didn't want to think about his mummy, or his uncle, or Drégo, or the sibling that was replacing him. When he saw the elves looking at him expectantly he sighed. "If I tewll you, wiwll you hewp me?" he asked, voice barely above a whisper.

"Of course" Elrohir said immediately and Elladan nodded, they doubted it was that bad, his mother had probably told him off for breaking something and for some reason had misinterpreted what his mother was saying so he thought she didn't want him anymore.

Fíli sighed and tried to think of what to say, but the more he thought about what had happened today, the more upset he became to the point where everything came rushing out.

"Unca tooked me to the toyshop and pwomised to pick me up, then Dwégo towd me that dwarves only have one child cause they should be evewyfing they wanted, and if they have annover baby it's cause the fiwst one is a disappointment, and mama is having annover baby cause she don't wove me anymore and wants a new child, and I fouwht Dwégo was lying but then Fwéya came to pick me up, and I knew Dwégo wasn't lying cause if Unca weally woved me he woulda kept his pwomise but he didn't so I did what Dwégo said to and I left cause I don wanna be a spare, I wanna mama who wiwll wove me so I 'cided to wun away and then you found me." The dwarfling finished in a gasp, tears pouring down his cheeks and Elladan scooped him up and held him tightly whilst he sobbed.

"_El, I thought the reason for there being so few dwarfling's was because it was difficult for a female dwarf to carry children, not this whole disappointment thing?" _Elrohir thought to his brother in alarm.

Elladan had placed his chin on the dwarfling's head and was rocking the child gently, trying to stop the crying; he hadn't done much of this before but knew it wasn't too hard. He looked at his brother out of the corner of his eyes. _"Your right Roh, that's the only reason dwarfling's are so rare, not because of them being a disappointment. I remember father saying in one of our lessons that if the dwarves could craft their children from the earth than there would be an abundance of dwarves and no one would know where to put them all." _Elrohir managed to avoid snorting at this particular comment.

Once Fíli's crying had become hiccups Elladan lifted his head and rearranged Fíli in a seated position in his lap. "Fíli who exactly is this Drégo? The one who told you about this disappointment thing?"

Fíli's was still shaking from his crying but managed to shrug his shoulders "A boy from town." He mumbled.

"Fíli, is the reason you ran from us earlier because we said we're brothers? And it made you think about your own sibling?" Elrohir asked and received a nod in reply. Elrohir and Elladan looked at each other briefly then back at Fíli.

"Fíli, I'm going to tell you what we know about dwarves alright? Especially where children are concerned and I want you to listen closely ok?" Elladan said firmly. When Fíli nodded he began.

"You need to understand first and foremost that no dwarf child is a disappointment to their parents, no matter what they end up becoming. If anything, dwarfling's are extremely special to your people because you are so rare. Usually dwarf women are very hard to come by, and carrying a baby is even harder, for most women their bodies are only really able to cope with a few, but I promise you, if they could have hundreds then they would. Children are like a treasure, and they cannot help but wanting to surround themselves with the most precious things they could possibly have. In fact throughout Middle Earth and all its races parents will give their children siblings not because they want to replace that child but because they want to give you the best gift you could ever receive, a best friend."

Elrohir glanced at his brother fondly before looking back at Fíli who was still looking at him sadly. "Elrohir is my twin brother Fíli, but to me he's more than that, he's my best friend, the one I will defend with my life without a thought for myself, my partner in crime, an ear to whisper in, and when we were younger a step to stand on to reach the sweets, and I don't know what I'd do without him. And it will be the same for you, I promise. A sibling is not a burden, but rather an extension of you, someone you can always count on to be there. Do you understand now? Drégo was lying, Fíli, I'm sure of it. After all, we've been on this earth a lot longer than he has so we should know."

Fíli looked between the brothers then down at his lap. Maybe Elladan was right, maybe his mama didn't want to replace him. But then why did Drégo say all this to him in the first place? "Why would Dwégo lie?" He asked quietly.

"Some people can be cruel for no reason Fíli, but generally people will say hurtful things because of something that has happened to them." Elrohir said with a shrug.

Fíli thought about this for a moment, but his mind kept going back to his mother and Uncle. If they truly loved him then Thorin wouldn't have broken his promise to Fíli to pick him up, and he and his mama wouldn't have become distant with him when his father had died. "They don't wove me" Fíli said quietly "If they woved me then Unca woulda picked me up wike he pwomised and mama woulda kept woving me the same after daddy died, but they didn't." A stray tear rolled down Fíli's cheek, and Elladan brushed it away with his thumb.

"_I don't think we're going to change his mind El,"_ thought Elrohir sadly to his brother, his eyes never leaving the dwarfling's face.

Fíli didn't want to go back to Ered Luin, didn't want to go back to a home where he wasn't loved. He wanted to go with someone nice who would look after him and love him forever. "Can I come wive with you?" Fíli asked hesitantly "Can you be my bwothers?"

Elladan and Elrohir's mouths dropped open simultaneously looking at each other in shock. Granted, the night had been throwing interesting things at them but this was downright unexpected.

"_Erm Roh, I don't think Ada will be overly thrilled with us bringing a dwarfling home from Ered Luin, I mean I know he wanted us to make friends and connections and all that, but I don't think he meant like this…" _Elladan thought startled.

"_Agreed, although look at him the poor thing. Perhaps saying no right now isn't the best idea. The sun has well and truly set, perhaps after a good sleep he'll be more willing to go back home tomorrow. Although..." _Elrohir thought, barely managing to contain a grin _"Imagine how cool it would be to have a little brother! I've always wanted one; just imagine the kind of mischief we could get up to with three of us!"_

The silent exchange between the twins only took several seconds so Fíli wasn't left wondering if he'd insulted or upset them.

Elladan stroked Fíli's hair and said gently "why don't we discuss this more tomorrow mellon? The night is upon us and you look tired, it has been a long day for you. Your thoughts will be clearer in the morning and it will give you time to think over what we have told you tonight, ok?"

"M'not tired" Fíli protested weakly with a pout.

Elrohir grinned "well then, have you ever stargazed?" When Fíli shook his head Elrohir continued on "all light is sacred to the Eldar, it is what we elves love best, the stars hold memory, and the light holds hope. Why don't you lie down, and see what shapes you can make out in the stars. It is a game many elves like to play with their children, and we are yet to do it so far from home, perhaps we will see something new tonight. Why don't you tell us what you see?"

Fíli looked excitedly at the twins, perhaps by telling him about an elvish game they were in fact thinking about taking him with them. He lay down and Elladan pulled out his blanket and spread it over the two of them and settled himself next to Fíli, and instinctly Fíli huddled into Elladan's side, Elladan gaining a look of amusement from his brother.

A few minutes and several shapes later Fíli was out to the world, with his thumb in his mouth and tucked securely under Elladans' arm.

"Well dear brother, it seems we are going to be hard done by to return Fíli to his home, it seems he's found you to be a decent bedroll at the very least." Elrohir said with a smirk.

Elladan rolled his eyes "We need to take him into town tomorrow and get him fed, I have a feeling he skipped dinner so he'll be starving come morn. Hopefully there will be someone there who will recognise him and we can hand him over to them, assuming he'll be willing to go. Besides…" Elladan turned his head so he could look at the dwarfling fondly, or his hair as that was all he could see of him from his position on the ground. "If we don't try and return him I fear Ada will be less than unimpressed with the new addition to our family. I don't know about you but I've become rather fond of this one and parting from him is going to be hard enough the way things are at the moment."

"The longer he's with us the harder it will be to say goodbye." Elrohir said, catching his brothers meaning. "Well who knows what tomorrow will bring. Night El." And with that Elrohir huddled under his own blanket.

"Night Roh." Elladan replied, securing the blanket around him and Fíli.

* * *

><p>Further South, just under a day's travel a rider stopped in the middle of the forest where a small campfire was surrounded by a group of 30. On his arrival the camp fell silent.<p>

"Well?" Growled a voice approaching the rider.

"Less than a day my lord. And we will have the safety of the trees throughout. They will not see us approach." Came the guttural hiss of a reply.

A smile spread across the leaders face "This time tomorrow night, we feast on dwarf flesh!" he roared to his companions, and he was answered with cheers.


	6. Waiting and Revelations

**A/N Hello everybody! So what does one do when they want a bit of Fili, Kili and Thorin? Watch Desolation of Smaug for the 7th time the the extended Hobbit of course! :D Anyway I guess this is what you'd call a filler chapter more than anything, but still lots of important stuff and a bit more character development. I've been writing steadily, I'm looking forward to publishing the next chapter, some good stuff with the twins in there and a small nail biter :)**

**Shout out to Kari, Radiation11, girlgeekjf, wrmauney, Syblime, Lakota1172, GregsMadHatter, ****Guests and all my new reviewers and those who have favourited the story! Hopefully I continue to please :)**

******As much as it breaks my heart I do not own the writings or the characters of The Hobbit or Lord of the Rings, they are the wonderful and exclusive workings of J.R.R Tolkien******

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><p>Fréya sat at the table, her knees refusing to stop bouncing up and down as she waited anxiously for Fíli to return. But the hours ticked by and the sun quickly sank beyond the horizon and still no blonde hair burst through the front door. The tea and dinner that she'd made for herself was now stone cold as she couldn't stomach the thought of eating whilst Fíli was nowhere to be seen, and it had been hours since she'd spoken to Balin.<p>

Fréya was getting to the stage of wanting to rip her hair out from stress, it seemed better than sitting there doing nothing. Before she could entertain the thought the front door opened.

"Fíli?!" Fréya screeched at the darkness outside, her chair clattering to the floor in her haste to stand. It wasn't blonde hair that came through the door however, but rather white hair followed by a concerned face.

"Well considering your cry there, I take it the lad still isn't home?" Balin said as he closed the door and watched as Fréya corrected her chair before falling into it heavily and letting her face fall into her hands.

Fréya shook her head which was still resting on her hands as she spoke. "What do I do Balin?! Why in Mahals name would he run off and stay out all night? He's only 5! What did I say that could have upset him like this?" She looked up at Balin desperately, and he moved around to place a comforting hand on her shoulders.

"Fréya, this is not your fault ok? I do not know what has made him so upset he fears he cannot come home, but I know it is through no fault of your own. The boy loves you to bits my dear, there's nothing you could say that would upset him." Balin said comfortingly.

"It is dark now, however and I have a feeling he won't be returning tonight. I just pray that he's found some place warm to sleep. But you my dear, you need to get some sleep as staying up all night isn't going to bring him home." Balin smiled gently at Fréya as he could see just how worn down the young dwarrowdam was from the last few hours.

"Tomorrow at dawn I will get up and wander round the town and see if I can spot him, I will spend a few hours there and will try and ask without asking if you get my meaning, if anyone has seen him, the fewer number of people that know about Fíli's disappearing act, the less likely Thorin will find out before any solid information is gathered."

Fréya nodded, looking wearily at Balin as he spoke. She knew what he was saying made sense, but she highly doubted whether she'd be able to sleep at all. She rose from her chair slowly and headed to the living room, followed by Balin and she collapsed onto the couch near the fire. She watched Balin go further down the hall and he came back moments later with a spare pillow and blankets.

"Thank you Balin, your kindness is more than I deserve." Fréya said quietly as she took the blanket and pillows off him to make herself a bed on the couch.

Balin shook his head, "nonsense. You don't deserve to be worrying about where the lad has gone and Thorin and Dís will not blame you if they find out he went missing. They know how much you love that boy and they know you've never been careless where he's concerned, so stop beating yourself up over it. He'll come back in his own time when he's good and ready, you'll see." Balin said in a firm but kind tone. He hated seeing Fréya beat herself up over all of this, and he was determined to not let it shake her up so much that she might refuse to look after Fíli ever again.

"Get some rest, I'll stop by in the morning before I go and search for him ok." Balin said taking her shoulders and guiding her till she was lying down on the couch with a blanket pulled around her. "Goodnight Fréya" Balin said gently as he went around and dimmed out all the lights.

"Goodnight Balin" Fréya mumbled back, already lost to sleep.

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><p>As Balin strolled down the path towards his house he saw movement out of the corner of his eye. He whirled around with his fists raised and a snarl on his face.<p>

"Easy brother, yer more likely to break a bone in yer hand than do me any damage." Dwalin's voice drawled from the shadows in amusement.

"Evening brother" Balin replied in relief lowering his fists and squinting to see his younger brother "and it's not my fault you're as thick as bricks" Balin said with a grin when his brother joined his side.

Dwalin growled something incoherent before replying "I'll take it as a compliment yer swine" making Balin chuckle as they made their way up to their house.

As they entered their house they shirked out of their coats and hung them by the door. Balin looked at his younger brother and said "where have you been tonight?"

"With Thorin" Dwalin replied simply.

"Ah and how has he been since I left? And Dís?" Balin asked as he went to the kitchen to pour himself some ale, with Dwalin following close behind.

When both dwarves were seated with a mug of ale and a plate of food Dwalin looked at his brother. "Oh you know how Thorin is, same as when Dís was pregnant with Fíli: about as nervous as a thief wearing bells approaching Smaug would be." Dwalin said with a grin "some things never change; he didn't stop fidgeting the whole time and almost wore holes into the carpet from his pacing. In the end I had to force him to sit down by threatening him with a sleeping draught from one of the healers if he didn't try and relax." Dwalin took a swig from his mug followed by a hearty bite out of his chicken.

Balin couldn't help but grin either. Thorin had been a right shocker before Fíli was born, he had been so nervous about the new arrival but Balin couldn't blame him. Not only was he getting a nephew and an heir that night, but pregnancy in general was a tricky and complicated business for dwarves, if they weren't careful they could have lost both Dís and Fíli during the birth. However when they'd been told that the birth was a success and both mother and child were resting, Thorin had all but collapsed against Balin and Dwalin in relief, and had to take several moments to compose himself before going in to see them.

When Dwalin had finished his mouthful he continued on, the grin still plastered on his face. "And Dís, well its Dís Balin, fighting fit and ready to throw the healers, Thorin, Mahal and Aüle themselves through the wall if they so much as say a wrong word. In fact Thorin was sent in there at one point to have a few words with her about what she's been saying to some of the healers, they are after all and I quote one of the younger healers 'the ones who are trained to deliver, not her'. Clearly the new ones have forgotten or are too stupid to realise she's done this before and that she knows exactly what she needs. Thorin went in and spoke to her then spoke to the healers and managed to calm the situation down some. Anyway they think the baby will arrive sometime tomorrow morning."

"Poor Oin, Dís must be giving him a headache, assuming he's kept his ear trumpet nearby in order to hear what's being said." Balin said shaking his head with amusement.

Dwalin's smile widened "oh no, Oin has been wise enough to stay away until she's about ready to deliver, he told us that this was good training for the younger healers."

The brothers burst out laughing; trust Oin to find an escape from Dís's wrath, after all he'd suffered enough abuse from her when she was there waiting to have Fíli.

After the laughter died down Dwalin looked at his brother with a small frown. "Where do you get off to today? Thorin said you had been gone an awful long time and it was unlike you to stay away."

Balin grimaced; he'd been hoping to avoid this particular topic of conversation, as he'd decided it was better to be busy out looking for Fíli rather than sitting around and doing nothing. However Balin knew it was no use lying to his brother, Dwalin would have his head if he learnt that Fíli had gone missing and he hadn't told him. Dwalin, the immovable mountain of a dwarf that he was had a soft spot for the golden haired child because just like Balin he was like another Uncle to Fíli.

"Unfortunately brother I got side-tracked on my way back to the Healing House. I ran into Fréya on my way there, she'd gone to pick up Fíli from Bofur's, only there was a slight problem when I saw her: Fíli's disappeared. And before you march out that door…" Balin had to yell at his brother who was on his feet and indeed looked ready to march out the door to tear the town down looking for the lad "I spent all afternoon trying to find him, so you might as well sit back down!" Balin said crossly at his brother who was glaring at him, and Balin waited until Dwalin reluctantly lowered himself back into his chair.

"We believe something has upset him and he's run off, so there's no use trying to find him. No, Thorin doesn't know he's disappeared and I want it to stay that way, you hear me. I'm going out at first light to search for him again, and you will go and be with Thorin as though nothing is amiss. We'll find him brother, don't worry."

Dwalin glared at his brother. Discovering Fíli was missing was the last thing he expected Balin to tell him and it was against the wish of every fibre of his being that he sat there as Balin asked, rather than get out there looking for Fíli. He prayed that Balin was right and that he was just staying with someone else and would go running through the door to his house first thing in the morning begging for forgiveness.

"Are you planning on telling Thorin at all?" Dwalin asked, managing to keep his anger in check.

"If he hasn't turned up by lunch, then yes I will tell him, I just pray the baby has arrived by that stage so Dís will be kept occupied and won't find out."

Dwalin nodded, pleased that his brother had a plan.

Tomorrow was going to be an interesting day.


	7. The paths we tread

**Hello everyone! So, a big chapter for you with several different perspectives at different/same times during the day. Please let me know what you think of this chapter as the pace is starting to pick up and we're getting to some really important stuff in the next few chapters! :) not to build too much anticipation or anything...**

**Special shoutouts to the new followers: xSilversun, LionsChild, GemDragon22, Fangfan1, C.H.W.13, Fire and Ash and the new guests to be reading the story! Also to the current followers/favouriters: LOVE YOU ALL LONG TIME!**

**Also thank you so much everyone for the reviews! They are absolutely INCREDIBLE! I'm consistently surprised and touched by the feedback I'm getting and I'm so glad I decided to go ahead and write/share this with you all! Looking forward to writing more for you all in the future!**

******As much as it breaks my heart I do not own the writings or the characters of The Hobbit or Lord of the Rings, they are the wonderful and exclusive workings of J.R.R Tolkien******

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><p>The sun climbed over the Blue Mountains and cast its light across the sleepy town of Ered Luin and the field where two elves and a dwarfling were curled up fast asleep. Elrohir stirred and rolled over onto his side to face his brother, and he couldn't help but grin at the sight before him. Elladan was lying on his side, his head resting on his right arm which was stretched out above him as a pillow, and his left arm wrapped protectively around Fíli who was snuggled into his side with his thumb in his mouth and an arm holding onto Elladan's waist. Elrohir couldn't help the small chuckle that escaped his lips as he wished that he had something to capture this moment, so at the very least he could show his brother how cute he looked.<p>

Elrohirs' chuckle was enough to wake his twin. Elladans' closed eyes scrunched and opened slowly to look at him.

"_And what at this time of the morning could you possibly find so amusing brother?_" Elladan thought with annoyance.

"_Just how incredibly cute you look protecting a child whilst you sleep_" Elrohir thought back with a grin on his face.

Elladan looked down to the sleeping dwarfling and back to his brother with a smile._ "Oh shut up. We need to get moving as he's probably starving and we should return him if we want to finish what father sent us to do."_

Elrohir stood first as his brother went to wake Fíli. Whilst he was stretching he sniffed at the air and looked around. It was extremely quiet this morning, in fact there wasn't a sound coming from any birds or insects, the only noises that occasionally floated across the field were noises from the waking town, and the noises from the trees as the leaves moved in the breeze. The air itself smelt heavy and Elrohir could smell the storm that was moving in. He said as much to Elladan.

"You're right it's very eerie this morning. That storm's on its way, I reckon it'll be here by tonight so we might need to take our stuff with us in the afternoon and look for a room for the rest of our stay." Elladan replied. He was already packing away his belongings as Fíli had headed off to the nearest tree to relieve himself.

Elladan and Elrohir made short work of packing up the campsite, and Elrohir went and stashed their packs in the trees so they could move around more freely in the town. The twins had agreed to collect them once they had found who Fíli belonged to, hoping that the storm would hold off until then.

Fíli came back just as Elrohir jumped out of the tree and smiled shyly at the twins as he sat on the ground near the burnt out fire pit.

"How are you feeling this morning mellon?" Elrohir asked the dwarfling with a grin and patting the two horses next to the trees.

"Hungwy, mewonin." Fíli replied with a smile. He liked his new word, and he knew it would be important when he went to live with Elladan and Elrohir.

The twins grinned at him for remembering the word and what it meant.

"Would I be right in guessing that someone didn't get to eat their dinner last night?" Elladan asked knowing full well what the answer would be, and got a sheepish smile and nod from the dwarfling making him chuckle.

"Well then, first things first this morning, let's head into town and get some food. Not many people will be awake at the tavern so we should get a nice meal with the best bits. How does that sound?"

Fíli's reply came not in a nod or words, but in an extremely loud rumble from his stomach, which they all looked at in surprise.

"Well you got your answer El" Elrohir said with a grin. "Come on Fíli! Let's find some food." He extended his hand to the dwarfling who held it tightly, and then Fíli reached around and grabbed Elladan's hand with his free one.

And so the dwarfling walked hand in hand with the two elves back to Ered Luin.

* * *

><p>Balin finished off his breakfast with haste. Dwalin had just left for the Healing House to visit Thorin and take him some food, and Balin knew he needed to get a move on if he was to find Fíli before lunch as he REALLY didn't want to have to tell Thorin his nephew had disappeared.<p>

He swallowed the last of his scone, pulled on his boots and hurried out the door pulling his jacket on as he did so as he had noticed it was rather cool out this morning. He looked left and right, trying to determine where to start first: should he start at the dwarven end of town or the human end? _"I'll go see Fréya, then I'll start at the toyshop, if Fíli wanted somewhere to hide I'm sure Bofur wouldn't have turned him away."_ And with that thought Balin hurried off, determined to locate the dwarfling.

* * *

><p>Dwalin pushed the main door to the Healing House open and walked into the waiting room looking around for the dark headed dwarf he'd known all his life, only to find to his surprise he wasn't there.<p>

"Oi you," Dwalin said grabbing the arm of the closest healer and spinning him around. "Where's Thorin? Has the baby arrived?"

The healer shrugged out of Dwalin's ridiculously strong grip. "First door on the left, couldn' 'ave the King sleepin' on a chair out here when we 'ave plenny beds free." He said with a glare and walked off.

Dwalin hurried to the room he'd been told and opened the door without bothering to knock. He realised in hindsight that Thorin probably would've appreciated the gesture and noted to remember that next time, but luckily for him there was nothing that could've embarrassed either of them. Thorin was pacing the room, and Dwalin could tell he hadn't slept much, if anything really. Dwalin felt the same; he'd been tossing and turning in fear over Fíli's disappearance, and praying to anyone who would listen that he'd suddenly appear at his house. Remembering his promise to Balin to not say anything, he shut the door with a snap which made his friend spin around in surprise.

Thorin had been so lost in his thoughts he hadn't heard the door open, and missing hearing his friend come in meant that he truly was distracted, after all Dwalin was an incredibly loud dwarf.

"Dwalin! How long have you been there?!" Thorin said in surprise.

"Only just got 'ere" Dwalin replied, moving to lean against the wall after he set the plate of food down on the bed. "How are yer? Yer look exhausted."

Thorin ran a hand across his face and let it fall to his side looking at Dwalin wearily. "I feel it. I'm worried Dwalin, they keep telling me Dís is fine but she's been in there for so long, and they haven't let me back in since I spoke to her yesterday. I think I might…"

Whatever Thorin had been thinking Dwalin never found out for at that point the door burst open and Oin appeared.

"Oin!" Thorin and Dwalin yelled in unison

"She's getting close! Not too much longer now lads!" The old healer half shouted at them before disappearing, slamming the door shut behind him.

Thorin and Dwalin grinned at each other, it was almost time.

"I'll go find Balin, he won't be too far from here." Dwalin said to Thorin, clapping him on the shoulder before rushing out of the room leaving Thorin to eat his food and resume his pacing.

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><p>The trio approached the gates of the city in no time at all; however it was long enough to teach Fíli some more Elvish. The words they were in the process of teaching Fíli were 'Hannon Le', which Fíli learnt meant 'thank you'.<p>

As they passed through the gate a human guard was watching them curiously and Fíli waved at him. "Hannonee!" he said with a huge grin.

The twins couldn't contain their own grins "Well done Fíli! Keep practising that and we'll teach you another one soon ok?"

The group had walked through the city gates without issue aside from the curious look and looked around to see if there were any dwarves nearby that they could walk Fíli past, hoping someone would recognise him. Unfortunately there was hardly anybody about at that time of the morning.

"The Lone Warrior huh?" Elrohir said looking at the sign to the tavern above him "Alright Fíli, we'll stop in here for breakfast eh?" Elrohir said as they walked towards the tavern.

Fíli nodded eagerly, he was well and truly hungry by now and just wanted food.

Elrohir held the door open and Fíli hurried inside, drawn by the smell of fresh bread. Elrohir and Elladan looked at each other amused and followed him inside, allowing the door to swing shut.

* * *

><p>Balin waved to Bofur as he left the toyshop and sighed as soon as he had his back to the door. He'd managed to ask Bofur without causing concern if he'd seen Fíli that morning.<p>

"I haven't seen the lad since yesterday when he got picked up. Everything alright Balin?" Bofur had asked with a slight frown.

Balin had told the toymaker that he'd stopped by to see Fíli earlier that morning and tell him Thorin would be home in the afternoon, but both he and Fréya had already left for the day so he was trying to find the pair of them to make sure he was ready to visit Dís when Thorin picked him up. Bofur relaxed and told Balin he'd keep an eye out for the pair and pass on the message if he saw them, especially as Fíli was meant to be picking up his toy sometime that day.

As Balin walked away from the toyshop he placed a hand on his forehead. Perhaps he should look in the human end of town, not that there was a divide mind you, but that end happened to be the area where most of the Men lived and owned businesses. Balin wasn't really sure what he was expecting to find, he highly doubted Fíli would go down that end as no-one had ever taken him there before, and he was unlikely to go somewhere he didn't know, even to hide.

With his mind made up Balin headed off towards the other end of town.

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><p>Dwalin looked around in annoyance. Surely his brother hadn't gone too far, Ered Luin wasn't a huge place after all, sure strangers tended to get lost, but it wasn't as big as what Erebor had been where finding someone would generally take hours.<p>

Then again Dwalin had only just stepped outside of the Healing House, so maybe he was being a bit overdramatic. However he was desperate to find his brother before the baby arrived, as he knew Dís and Thorin would have their heads if they weren't there when they could see the baby for the first time.

"Dwalin!" A voice off to his right called.

Dwalin looked at the approaching figure "Gloin! How are yer? Wha' can I do for ye?"

Gloin grinned as he stopped near Dwalin "Nothing for me my friend, but you look a little… annoyed… is probably the best word to use."

"I need to find Balin, but I wouldn' have a clue as to where 'es gone, he went lookin' for F… er someone." Dwalin said, quickly correcting himself.

"Well then whoever he's looking for must be in the front of town, I saw him walking towards the gate not 10 minutes ago." Gloin said nodding in the direction he'd just come from.

Dwalin clapped Gloin on the shoulder in thanks and hurried off to find his brother.

* * *

><p>Balin stood in the centre of town near the entrance and looked around. On his right he had the main gate where there were a couple of guards milling about, in front of him past the large wishing pool and market stalls were streets that houses, shops and a forge were connected to, behind him was exactly the same, and on his left were a couple of stalls, the Lone Warrior tavern, several inns and a couple of stables next to it for visitors to rest their horses during their stay.<p>

"Why did I even bother coming here?" Balin wondered aloud, "why on earth would Fíli come here of all places?" He looked to his left when the door to the Lone Warrior swung open as a local lad walked in to start his shift, soft voices floating out of the usually noisy building.

Balin decided to head to the main gate to ask if they'd seen a blonde dwarfling wandering around when a hand landed on his shoulder making him spin around in fright.

"Dwalin! What on earth are you doing here? Have you found him?"

Dwalin shook his head at his brother "It's Dís Balin; Oin said it's almost time."

Balin's mouth fell open slightly in surprise, it was finally time for another Durin to join them in the world. He nodded at his brother with a smile on his face and the pair hurried towards the Healing House, the thoughts of trying to find Fíli forgotten for the time being.

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><p>Elrohir looked around the tavern with curiosity. They had taken seats near the back of the building to sit close to the fire, and he and his brother were sitting next to each other with their backs to everyone in order to give Fíli the comfier seat. Unfortunately they had realised too late that by doing so they were blocking everyone from the young dwarfling they were trying to show, and there was no coaxing Fíli out of his seat when he sat down. The two elves had looked at each other in defeat before taking their seats in front of him.<p>

"So Fíli, the food shouldn't be too much longer, but while we're waiting, what does Mellon-nín mean?" Elladan asked the blonde haired dwarfling, drawing Elrohir's attention back to his table.

"My fwend, and mewon just means fwend." Fíli said proudly.

Elrohir ruffled the dwarfling's hair. "And Hannon le?"

"Fank you!" Fíli said, his eyes lighting up in excitement.

"Well done Fíli! At this rate father will HAVE to take you in! He wouldn't turn away a dwarfling who can say thank you in Elvish!" Elladan said with a grin, and Fíli responded in kind with a dazzling smile.

Elladan knews it was unfair to get Fíli's hopes up about joining them, especially as they were planning on returning him to his family as soon as possible, but he couldn't stop thinking about possibly getting a new little brother.

"What does Le Abdollen mean?" Elrohir shot at the dwarfling with a smile.

There was a pause whilst Fíli thought about it; they'd only just taught him this, and he had been having problems trying to pronounce Abdollen at all.

Just then the waiter came over and placed three plates of food on the table when Fíli suddenly remembered the meaning.

"Yoaw late!" Fíli shouted with glee, causing the waiter to look at him slightly offended, which sent the two elves into fits of laughter as they tried to choke out a thanks and an apology to the waiter. Fíli looked at the waiter with a grin "Hannonee!" he said trying his hardest to sound serious but failing miserably.

"Thank you for the food, and we apologise for his outburst, we're currently teaching him some new words in Elvish, the translation was just bad timing on his part." Elladan said managing to control his laughter whilst his brother was still chuckling away.

"Oh, well enjoy the meal." The waiter said with a small yet still slightly puzzled smile before bustling off to another table to take an order.

"Nice one Fíli!" Elrohir said with a grin at the dwarfling who had already started tucking into his rather large meal to try and sate his starving stomach.

Fíli just grinned back at his new friends and potential brothers. Finally he felt that he might belong with them.

* * *

><p>Thorin's pacing had increased in intensity, he knew he was probably creating a permanent path in the carpet, and realised he might have to arrange for a replacement to be brought in. The door burst open and he swung around as he refused to be taken by surprise again. Dwalin and Balin walked into the room, the only important question clear on their faces.<p>

"No news yet." Thorin said with a sigh and resumed his pacing.

Balin looked at his weary friend before standing in his path. When Thorin was face to face with him Balin put his hands on his shoulders and guided him over to the bed.

"Thorin, you're exhausted. You need to sit down and relax; everything will be fine, just like last time. Dís is one of the strongest dwarrowdams I've ever met. When she finds out how much worrying you've been doing she'll have your head for worrying and ours for not calming you down." Balin pushed on Thorin's shoulders until he was sitting on his bed. Balin pulled the plate of food towards his friend and put it on his lap.

"Eat, and I will not be taking no for an answer you hear?" Balin said firmly.

With a defeated sigh Thorin made himself more comfortable on the bed and picked up some of the chicken on the plate, realising for the first time just how hungry he was.

Dwalin watched his friend intently, he could tell that Thorin was still stressed and would only relax when Oin told them that both mother and child were well. Then once Thorin had met his nephew or niece and spent some time with Dís he would go home, get changed and get Fíli so…. _Fíli._ Dwalin winced. How could he have forgotten the reason for his fears so easily? They still hadn't found him and now neither of them could leave without making Thorin suspicious.

"Balin, I need ta talk to yer outside." Dwalin said in a casual tone, yet both Balin and Thorin looked at him in surprise.

"Can you not talk in here?" Thorin said with a frown at his friend and a mouthful of chicken, blast the courtesy of not talking with your mouth full.

"Sorry lad, family business, it'll only take a moment." Dwalin said looking at his friend apologetically.

Thorin's frown remained for a second more before he shrugged. As close as he was with Balin and Dwalin, Thorin knew that there were just some things that weren't for him to know, just as it was for them about his life. It was a privacy that was rarely called upon between the three of them, yet it was a privacy he knew to respect all the same.

Balin looked at his brother with a small frown and followed him out of the room. Dwalin led him outside, determined for Thorin not to hear any of their conversation.

"What it is?" Balin asked with a frown as soon as Dwalin was satisfied with the distance between them and Thorin.

"Fíli, Balin. We still haven't found Fíli." Dwalin said in a lowered voice.

Balin squeezed his eyes shut. How could he have forgotten about the lad? He sighed and looked at his brother. "There's nothing we can do now, we can't leave Thorin by himself. We just have to pray that Fíli is there when he goes home. When Thorin does head home we'll go with him so that Fréya doesn't get the blame for not saying anything if he's not there."

Dwalin nodded, it was about all they could do now without dragging Thorin away from Dís when he badly needed to be here. And Thorin was likely to rip the town apart looking for Fíli if he found out now, not that he wouldn't when he found out later of course.

The two brothers walked back inside to Thorin's room to wait for the news, both praying that Dís and the baby would be fine, and that Fíli had returned home by now.

* * *

><p>Fréya stretched and rolled over to get more comfortable, only to find herself falling smack onto the floor. Still half asleep Fréya opened her eyes in surprise. When had her bed shrunk? It was only after sitting there for a few moments staring at the ceiling in confusion that the memories of the day before came crashing back making her mouth fall open in horror.<p>

"Fíli?! Fíli are you here?" Fréya called urgently, jumping to her feet and racing to his room. How on earth had she slept all night? When she arrived at Fíli's room she flung the door open, only to feel her heart sink, his bed was as cold and empty as it had been when she first got home.

With a sigh Fréya walked back to the kitchen in order to prepare some tea and a plate of food. She was starving and knew that she'd need to keep up her energy if she was to go and search for him soon. When she arrived in the kitchen she paused in surprise. There, sitting folded on the table was a note. It certainly hadn't been there when she arrived last night, so she dashed forwards and opened it.

_Fréya, I thought it best not to wake you as you looked like you needed the sleep. I am going to start looking for him at the Toyshop, stay here in case he comes back. Don't worry, we'll find him. B_

"Balin." Fréya said with a sigh. Hopefully her friend would have some luck in finding him. She walked to the front door and stepped outside to take in a breath of fresh air. She looked up and noticed that, although it turned out she'd slept in till near midday, the sky was now an ugly shade of grey. The storm was rolling in and it was rolling in fast. Yet there was no sign of the storm having any intention to start, it just decided to move in early and linger until it was ready to unleash itself.

"I hope Fíli doesn't get caught out in this." Fréya muttered to herself before walking back in and shutting the door behind her so she could take a seat in the kitchen and wait for Fíli come home.


	8. The Sun and the Moon

**Hello everyone! So had fun writing this chapter and how Thorin reacted in two separate yet very familiar situations, as well as having a huge bombshell dropped on him. There are a couple of stars attached to two paragraphs near the beginning which indicate where the soundtrack for this chapter comes in. The first star goes with "Feast of Starlight" from the DoS soundtrack and the second star goes with the "Kingsfoil" track. For those who are familiar with the tracks and once you read these two sections I think you'll see why I've added them in, they practically make my heart melt they fit so perfectly.**

**Anyway lots of intense stuff coming up! Looking forward to sharing it all with you soon!**

**I had a review which raised a valid point for me as this is the first story I've written so I feel like sharing it with you in case anyone else feels this way, and this is my response and reasoning for it (I'm not going to deliberately name names, but I feel its an important viewpoint on the story).**

_**I would enjoy it much more if you could dial back Fili's babytalk. I've actually started reading this story several times and stopped because of that alone. You might want to consider that some readers could find it grating rather than 'pwecious'.**_

**When I thought about this I realized that the reviewer had a fair point so this is something I wanted to share, my response being:  
><strong>

**_The reason for using it was to keep reminding everyone that Fili is very young in the story and not yet able to talk properly, but I do get your point, it can also be a pain in the a** to write. I have been drawing from my experiences with all the under-5's (mainly 2 & 3 year old's who babble consistently and can hardly string three words together, occasionally much to my annoyance lol) that my mum looks after in home based care, and after that don't have much to do with children who are over 5 and "can kinda speak but can't", so probably overdid it a little bit :)_**

**If anyone else feels the same about Fili's talk I do apologize, it was never meant to be annoying and I probably should have thought it through a bit more :) Thank you to my reviewer for the feedback, you know who you are! :)**

**Once again thank you everyone for reading this, and I want to say a huge welcome to MercedesAsheSorrel, Ithilya, arianna2, Lymira, MelanthiaChase, PotterheadWhovian, ladymay03 and Wraven as well as all the other followers/favouriters! You guys rock!**

**Sorry for the massive Authors Note...**

* * *

><p>Thorin sat on his chair with his head resting against the wall, tapping his fingers impatiently on his leg. Oin had been in earlier to tell them that Dís was close to giving birth, but that had been hours ago, it was nearing noon and still there was no word. The stress she was causing him was driving him insane; in fact at one point he thought she might have been doing it deliberately just to infuriate him for her own amusement.<p>

Of course that thought was sent flying out the window when a cry of pain and a steady string of dwarvish swear words floated down the hall from his sisters' room, following Dwalin in as he closed the door behind him after coming back from his smoke. Thorin had wanted nothing more than to join his friend in order to smoke away some stress, but he'd left his pipe at home and had no intention to fetch it now.

"It's getting darker out there, storms definitely on its way." Dwalin said as he tucked his pipe back in his pocket and sat on the bed.

Balin went to open his mouth when the door opened and Oin walked in. All three dwarves jumped to their feet in anticipation and nervousness.

"Well?" Dwalin demanded, noticing how tense his friend had become at his side.

Oin had been looking at the three of them with no expression, however he couldn't hold it for long and his face broke out into a huge smile.

"It's done. Dís and the baby are fine. She's exhausted, but she wants to see you." Oin said gently.

Thorin thought his legs would give way from under him, but Dwalin and Balin grabbed him by the shoulders in congratulations and to ensure he stayed standing.

"What did she have?" Thorin managed to ask in a whisper, looking like he was about ready to faint.

*Oin chuckled in response. "Like last time, she's insisted you find out for yourself. Come on you lot, yes you two as well, she said she won't have either of you waiting outside the room." He looked at Balin and Dwalin as he said this.

Thorin, Balin and Dwalin followed Oin to Dís's room. On the short walk over Thorin couldn't help but think back to when she'd given birth to Fíli.

"_How is she?" He asked worriedly. His brother-in-law had already gone in to see her, and Thorin was walking with Balin and Dwalin who were just as eager to meet the new child._

"_She's fine as is the baby." Oin promised in a reassuring voice._

"_What did she have?" Thorin asked, nervousness creeping into his voice as they arrived at the door to her room._

"_She, ah… insisted that I refrain from telling you. Said she'd prefer to see your reaction." Oin said with a chuckle, opening the door to allow the three dwarves in._

_The three dwarves stepped inside and saw Dís sitting up in bed with a bundle in her arms, while she was tucked securely into her husbands' side. The pair of them had been looking fondly at the bundle in her arms, the sunlight revealing tears on their faces. Both dwarves looked up at the three newcomers with smiles on their faces, one clearly more exhausted than the other._

"_Dís" Thorin said gently, pressing his lips to his sisters' forehead and looking her in the eyes in order to search for his own proof she was fine._

_Dís rolled her eyes knowing exactly what her brother was looking for. "I'm fine Thorin. Would you like to meet the baby?" She asked gently._

_Thorin nodded and received the small bundle from his sister. The baby had been wrapped so that the only parts that were showing were the face which was turned to the side as the baby slept and the arms that were lying on top. As Thorin went to pull the blanket down to reveal the whole of the baby's head Dís said gently "Thorin, meet Fíli, your nephew."_

_Thorin's face broke out into a smile; he had gained a nephew, and an heir. The blanket fell away from the baby's head to reveal a head of seemingly liquid blonde hair, and when Thorin saw the blonde he felt the air catch in his throat._

"_He has Frerin's hair, and our nose." Dís said quietly looking at Thorin and Fíli with a smile on her face, her heart mourning the golden haired brother she had lost years ago. _

_Thorin's heart had stuttered as he looked at the dwarfling in his hands, so small and delicate and breakable. His fingers cupped the baby's head and he trailed his thumb down Fíli's face in a caress, causing the baby to stir._

_Thorin was about to hand the baby back when Fíli opened his eyes. Dazzling blue shone up at him and Thorin couldn't help the feeling of love flow through him. He expected the baby to cry, but instead Fíli reached a hand out and touched Thorins' face, opening his mouth and letting out a coo, causing all the adults in the room to laugh, love thick in their voices as Thorin pressed gentle lips to his nephews forehead._

"_You are loved, and you are blessed, little one."_

Thorin allowed the fond memory to fade as they arrived at Dís' door, in fact it was the same one as last time which made him chuckle quietly. Oin opened the door and led the three dwarves inside. There was Dís, exactly the same as before, sitting up and holding her new born child, tears of joy on her face as she looked at the baby lovingly. The only difference this time was that she was unable to share this precious moment with her husband, just as she had last time. The thought pained Thorin, but he knew he shouldn't linger on it, especially as he'd been trying to stop her from thinking about her husband since he'd died.

Thorin stepped forward and placed his lips to his sisters' forehead, and squeezed the back of her neck gently.

"Haven't we been here before?" Dís asked with a quiet chuckle.

"Aye, we have. Much has changed since then." Thorin replied with a small smile.

Dís managed to move herself over to one side of the bed, and patted the now empty spot for Thorin to sit in. "I may not be able to have my husband by my side, but I can have my brother." She said softly.

Thorin smiled and sat on the bed next to his sister, who immediately huddled in to his side, both for comfort and warmth, "Aye, that you can, dearest sister."

*"What's done is done; I just wish he had been here to meet the baby, it is one of the few regrets I will always have." Dís said sadly, looking at the baby before pressing her lips to the newborns' forehead. She looked at Thorin with a smile, "Would you like to meet the baby?"

Thorin grinned at his sister, as painful as it was to hear her talk about her dead husband, he was glad to see that it hadn't affected her badly during the birth. But the main reason for his smile was that his sister had yet again tactfully avoided giving him any clues as to the gender of the baby. His reaction made her chuckle.

Dís re-arranged herself into a more comfortable position before handing the baby over to her brother. The baby was wrapped the same way Fíli had been so Thorin was unable to see the baby's hair, only the face and arms. It too was asleep: clearly being born took a lot of effort.

"Meet Kíli, your nephew." Dís said as Thorin pulled the blanket away. He had half expected blonde hair again, but to his surprise a head of raven black hair greeted him. He looked at Dís with tears in his eyes.

"He has your hair and nose." Thorin told his sister, his voice thick with emotion.

"Our hair and nose" Dís corrected him gently.

Thorin felt himself mimicking his actions of five years earlier with Fíli. Thorin cupped his hand to the back of his nephews head and stroked the baby's face gently. The baby carried on sleeping and Thorin looked up at Dwalin and Balin with a grin.

The brothers took this as a sign to move closer as they'd been hovering between the bed and the door, unsure of where to stand. They both moved to the bed, taking turns to plant a kiss on Dís' forehead before Dwalin moved to the opposite side of the bed to stand near Thorin.

"He looks a bit like you Thorin" Balin said with a smile as he looked at the baby.

"But not as ugly" Dwalin said in a teasing voice making them all laugh.

Their laughter woke Kíli, he began to squirm in his blankets and when he opened his eyes Thorin couldn't help his mouth falling open. Incredible liquid brown eyes stared up at him in an almost accusing manner. The baby let out a whine and looked as though he was about to start crying, so Thorin rocked him gently, making soothing noises. It had the desired effect because not only did Kíli not cry, he lifted his arms and grabbed Thorin's beard, cooing happily with one of the most adorable smiles on his face that Thorin had ever seen, it was on par with Fíli's beloved smiles.

After a good half an hour with Dís and Kíli, where Dwalin and Balin got to hold the newest member of the Durin line, they finally left Dís to get some well-deserved sleep. Thorin was the last to leave, Kíli had fallen asleep long ago, but Thorin had been unwilling to put him down. He pressed his lips to his nephews' forehead and whispered "You are loved, you are blessed, and you will always be protected little one." Thorin had said the last part in reference to his brother-in-law, for he knew that from the halls of his fathers he would always watch over his two sons, just as Thorin intended to do.

As Thorin placed Kíli in his crib, Dís watched him wearily with a small smile. "I was given the sun, and now a moon. My day and night." She said with a sigh as she allowed sleep to take her.

Thorin kissed her forehead gently before leaving the room, a smile on his face at his sisters words, for they were truer than he expected. Fíli's hair shined like the sun, and he had become the new light in the Durin family's dark tunnel after the loss of their homeland. But where there was a sun, there had to be a moon, hand in hand wherever they went. And the moon had just been born, and would bring just as much joy to their lives as his brother had. Fíli and Kíli would balance each other out, at least Thorin prayed that this would be the case, that the brothers would be close and always have each other's back.

With that thought he stepped outside to breathe in fresh, albeit stormy air to try and lessen the giddy feeling he was still experiencing after meeting Kíli for the first time.

* * *

><p>Elrohir stepped outside for some fresh air, the smell of the tavern and being in there for what felt like hours was beginning to get to him. He'd always been like that though; he'd never really been able to cope with the confinement and smells of humans as well as his brother, Elladan just teasingly told him he was sensitive, which of course always annoyed him but unfortunately he couldn't downright deny it as his brother was probably right. As he looked to the sky he felt his mouth fall open. No wonder he'd been feeling queasy, the sun had already passed the mid-day mark. In fact from the position of the sun it was mid-afternoon now, the clouds were looking incredibly angry, and the first few droplets of rain were descending from the sky.<p>

Elrohir opened the tavern door and hurried over to his brothers. _Brother_, Elrohir had to remind himself sternly, there was no guarantee that they were taking Fíli with them, and they'd already wasted most of the day away in the tavern. They couldn't even go looking for other dwarves at the moment as the weather was about to turn ugly and they needed to fetch their belongings before the storm hit. _'That and the town's slowly filtering out'_ he thought to himself, _'people are heading home before the storm hits, just great.'_

"El" Elrohir said sitting back down next to his brother and interrupting another story that he'd been telling Fíli. They had been telling him stories all morning much to the young dwarflings delight.

Elladan looked at his brother with annoyance as he'd just walked in on a particularly good part of the tale. "Yes Roh?"

"It seems that whilst sitting here telling stories, time has decided to elude us. It's mid-afternoon and that storm is directly over the top of us. In fact it's starting to rain. If we don't get our stuff now we're going to be sorry." Elrohir said with a sigh.

Elladans mouth mimicked his brothers from earlier, dropping open in surprise. "Well there goes our plan for the day." He said, shaking his head.

"We need to go get our stuff now. Do you think the owner will let us leave Fíli in a room so we can go grab it?" Elrohir asked his brother, glancing at the owner.

"I go wif you!" Fíli piped up in protest, not at all pleased with the thought of being left behind in this strange smelling building with semi-drunk men.

Elladan sighed "we can ask but I doubt we can leave him here. He said that the room he's got for us won't be free until later; he came over just before and said and I doubt he'll want a child left on their own in here."

Fíli jumped up from his seat "I coming to!" he said sounding slightly annoyed, and before either elf could stop him he darted for the door. The elves raced after him but thankfully they didn't have to go far as he stopped outside the door with a smile on his face.

They looked at him and sighed "Alright Fíli, let's go get our stuff yeah?" Elrohir said with a smile.

The dwarfling grabbed their hands and they walked out of town the same way they had walked in.

* * *

><p>Dwalin and Balin followed Thorin outside once he'd left Dís' room. The brothers had been just as taken with Kíli as they had been with his older brother, something precious had just made its way into the world and into their hearts, and they knew that they would give their lives to protect this bundle of innocence.<p>

They also both had a feeling that the coming years were going to be full on with both boys, but they were looking forward to the challenge of helping to raise them through their studies. Having them as the teachers of Fíli and now Kíli had been something Thorin had insisted on from the both of them when Dís fell pregnant for the first time.

The brothers watched Thorin look at the sky for a moment before turning back to them. "It's time I head home and go and see Fíli, he'll no doubt be getting restless and missing his mother, so he'll be glad to hear that he can go see her soon. Thank you, for being here today," Thorin said placing a hand on Dwalin and Balin's shoulders "knowing that you were both here for us, I cannot thank you enough." Thorin said, finishing with a smile.

Thorin wasn't always the best at conveying his feelings or his thanks, but he knew that the two dwarves in front of him would be able to decipher what he meant regardless.

"Ye no we wouldn' leave either of you to go through this stuff alone, yer family after all." Dwalin said, clapping his own hand to Thorin's shoulder.

"Aye" Balin agreed, "we'll follow you home. We wouldn't mind visiting Fíli and seeing his reaction." Dwalin glanced at Balin briefly, glad for his brothers excuse for going home with Thorin in order to see if the little one was there, and to defuse a potentially volatile situation if he wasn't.

Thorin nodded, glad for the company for the journey home. He couldn't wait to tell Fíli that his little brother had arrived, and to introduce them for the first time.

* * *

><p>The three dwarves made their way back to Thorin's in a short amount of time, however they were beginning to feel the first few drops of rain that announced it was almost time for the storm to hit. Balin prayed that Fíli was home, he wasn't sure how to explain why Fíli was missing if that was still the case and with the storm about ready to begin, Thorin would be almost uncontrollable in his efforts to find his nephew if he still hadn't returned.<p>

As the three dwarves arrived at the house Balin managed to slip in front of Thorin before they reached the door and walked in first, holding it open for the other two. Normally Thorin would have gone ahead but Balin wanted to see if Fréya was anywhere to be seen so she could indicate if Fíli had arrived home or not.

As soon as Balin walked in he spotted Fréya sitting at the table staring at him, in the space of two seconds he looked at her with his eyebrows raised to which she responded with the tiniest shake of her head. Balin groaned inwardly: Fíli wasn't back.

Thorin and Dwalin didn't see any of this exchange as they walked in, but Dwalin could see the tension in the young dwarrowdam in the kitchen.

"Fréya, how's everything been going? Where's Fíli?" Thorin asked, his back to her as he deposited his coat on the hook near the door.

Fréya didn't answer; instead she looked fearfully at Balin, silently begging him to help her. She'd been trying to figure out what to say to Thorin since she'd woken and still didn't have the slightest clue, after all how do you tell your leader his nephew and heir vanished into thin air?

Thorin noticed the silence and turned back to look at her fully. "Fréya? Where is Fíli?" Thorin spoke slowly, his voice holding a firm tone.

Balin sighed, which drew Thorin's attention. "He's disappeared, Thorin. There's no easy way to say it I'm afraid."

Thorin blinked at Balin, surely this was just a bad joke, probably one of Fíli's and the lad would come jumping out any second. Several moments passed and not a word was said nor a sound was made.

"HE WHAT?!" Thorin roared when he realised that the mood was too serious for this to be a joke and they were waiting on him to say something. His roar caused the three other dwarves in the room to visibly jump, tears began to spill from Fréya's eyes and Balin placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"He's disappeared, Thorin. We've been searching for him since it happened but we haven't been able to find him."

"WHEN DID THIS HAPPEN AND WHAT DID YOU DO?!" Thorin bellowed at the dwarrowdam at the table, causing her to shrink in on herself in fear and grief.

"Thorin! Do not go blaming Fréya for something she could not control!" Balin snapped. He didn't want Thorin to say something that would become the deciding factor for Fréya to never look after Fíli again.

When Thorin looked slightly ashamed of his outburst Balin took that as his cue to continue. "He went missing yesterday after Fréya picked him up from the toyshop. When Fréya told me what had happened I went searching for him for the rest of the day, hence why I didn't return to the Healing House like I said I would. When he didn't turn up by nightfall I decided to go searching for him again this morning at first light whilst Fréya stayed here to wait and see if he'd come home, however my search was cut short this morning when Dwalin came to tell me Dís was ready to deliver. We had hoped last night that he had found somewhere warm to sleep and would be back this morning, unfortunately it seems we were wrong about him returning." Balin looked at his friend in concern, trying to read his reaction.

Thorin was shaking, both in anger and fear. Anger that no one had told him that Fíli had gone missing, and fear because of the fact that he had been missing since yesterday and anything could have happened to him.

"Tell me everything that happened." Thorin said harshly, looking at Fréya who shrunk into her chair in fear and not knowing what to say.

Thorin sighed, he wasn't angry at her, not really. He knew Balin was right that it wasn't her fault and that he shouldn't blame her. And now the kind-hearted young dwarrowdam who was always smiling at him was looking at him in fear. Thorin took a seat near Fréya and reached out and held her hand.

Using a gentler voice Thorin spoke again. "I'm sorry Fréya, I'm not angry at you I swear. This just isn't what I was expecting to hear when I came home. Please, tell me everything that happened yesterday, any emotions or words that seemed off between you picking up Fíli and noticing that he'd disappeared. Perhaps we can figure out what triggered him to run and perhaps it will lead us to him."

Fréya looked at Thorin still a little unsure. He'd frightened her but she knew she couldn't blame him really. She relaxed in Thorin's hold of her hand and took a breath.

"I arrived at the toyshop and Bofur greeted me out front. I brought a toy for the new baby then Bofur took me out back to where Fíli was working on his new toy. I told him I was taking him home and you'd be back tomorrow, or today I guess. After he finished he came out and we walked back here, we stopped off in the gardens to pick some flowers for Fíli to give to Dís when he went to see her. My friend was there and was showing me some particularly nice flowers that she said we could have for free. When I went to show Fíli he wasn't there, I thought he was playing hide and seek but we searched for almost an hour and still couldn't find him. That is when Balin found us and I told him what had happened." Fréya had been focusing on her and Thorin's clasped hands when she spoke, then looked up to see the reaction on his face.

Thorin was frowning, but he wasn't really focussing on anything as he tried to think what could have happened in that time. He looked at the dwarrowdam to see her hesitant expression. "Can you think of anything that he said or did that didn't quite fit? Please Fréya think, was there anything out of place?" He tone was gentle but insistent.

Fréya sighed and closed her eyes, running over everything that she had just told Thorin carefully. She opened her eyes slowly when a thought hit her and looked at Thorin with an unsure look. "There might be one thing," she said slowly trying to remember precisely what had happened and noticing Dwalin and Balin take a seat at the table, looking at her expectantly.

"When I went to the toyshop and saw Fíli he was all excited to show me the horse that he'd just painted. However the moment I told him I was taking him home there was almost like a pause in his expression, but it only lasted a second and then he was all smiling and happy. Then when he joined me and Bofur at the front of the shop he was suddenly sad. Bofur said something about it being because he had to leave the horse behind and I just assumed that that was what it was; now I'm not so sure."

Thorin nodded, so whatever had happened must have happened around that time.

"There was nothing else?" Balin asked gently.

Fréya shook her head "he was quiet the whole way back, so I don't think the reason for him to run happened after we left."

Thorin was nodding absentmindedly, sifting through his own thoughts of yesterday. He thought about how Fíli had been quiet on the way to the toyshop, and his surprise when he realised that that was where they were going, about Fíli talking to Bofur before waving goodbye and dashing into the shop. He thought about how Fíli had come racing back to hug him after he had called out to Fíli to say he would pick him up and…. Thorin groaned, closing his eyes and grabbing his head in horror.

"Thorin? Ev'rythin' alright?" Dwalin asked in concern.

"I think I know what caused him to run." Thorin said, his voice coming out in a groan.

"Well?" Asked Balin, trying to get him to continue after a pause.

"Fréya picked him up" Thorin said in horror at what he'd done without even realising it.

Balin, Dwalin and Fréya looked at each other confused.

"I… don't understand" Balin eventually said.

"Fréya picked him up Balin. Not me. I told him I would pick him up and I didn't."

"I still don't understand" Fréya said with a frown.

Thorin looked at her with a sad expression. "The night Fíli's father died we both promised him that we'd come back, however only I returned. After that Fíli said that his father had promised to come back but didn't, so thought that his father didn't love him. I told him that it was a promise his father had fought hard to keep but others had stopped him from doing so, and I swore to him that from that day forward I would keep every promise I made to him. I told him I would pick him up yesterday, but I didn't."

"You told him Thorin, you didn' promise" Dwalin said firmly.

"To be told something and to have a promise made is one in the same thing to a child Dwalin. If Thorin said he'd pick him up then he believed that that was what was exactly going to happen; only it didn't." Balin told his brother gently, clueing into Thorin's realisation.

Thorin had allowed his head to fall into his hands in grief whilst Balin spoke. There was only one thing that he could do, Thorin knew, and that was to go and find his nephew, apologize profusely and explain what had happened, hoping he hadn't completely destroyed Fíli's trust in him. Thorin stood up, his chair clattering to the ground.

"I'm going to go find him. I will not have him hiding when this storm hits, they terrify him and he could get hurt or sick from exposure." Thorin said as he headed to the door to put his coat back on.

"We'll come with you laddie. I'd like to know exactly where he's been hiding all this time, and now we can start asking direct questions as to where he is, means we'll get more eyes out looking for him." Balin said joining Thorin at the door with Dwalin right behind.

"I'll come too." Fréya said standing up, only to have Thorin walk back to her and place his hands on her shoulders.

"No Fréya, the storm is about to hit and I don't want you out in it where you could fall sick." Thorin said gently.

"But he ran away when I was supposed to be looking after him!" She argued back.

"It is not your fault you hear me. I need you here, he's most likely going to come running back the moment the first lightning strike hits and he'll need someone to comfort him. Please, do this for me." Thorin said gently, cupping her neck and placing his forehead against hers briefly.

Fréya was touched by the gesture as dwarves only carried out the gesture to those closest to them. She nodded, her forehead still connected to Thorin before drawing back with a smile.

"I'll go get the fire started and put some blankets near it to warm you all up when you return. Just find him." She said before heading off to the living room to start the fire.

"Alright, let's go." Thorin said looking to his two friends and heading out the door.

* * *

><p>When they were outside they started heading down the path from the house towards the town, and Thorin looked at Balin. "Where did you look? Perhaps we should start where you haven't already searched and we might need to consider splitting up also."<p>

Balin opened his mouth to reply when there was an urgent shout.

"THORIN!"

The dwarves turned to look towards the shout, which had come from the direction of the Healing House, and saw Bofur, Bifur and Gloin running towards them.

Thorin waited until the three dwarves had slowed down in front of them. "Bofur what's the matter?"

Bofur took a couple of deep breaths in order to talk properly. "Orcs, Thorin. The guards saw me and said that a scout spotted Orcs in the forest outside of town. They're busy gearing up and sent me to find you; I found Bifur and Gloin along the way. We went to the Healing House as that's where you were last I heard. I've told Oin and he and the healers and preparing for wounded."

Thorin groaned loudly; Fíli was missing, a storm was about to hit and now they were expecting an attack? Great. "How many?"

"It appears to be a small troop, 20-30 is the guess. He didn't hang around to get an exact count." Bofur said.

"What do yer want us ta do?" Dwalin asked with a growl.

"Will you all fight?" Thorin asked, looking around the small group. When he received nods from everyone present he carried on. "Alright, go to your houses, collect your weapons and horses and meet at the front gates. Be there in 10 minutes."

The small party dispersed and Thorin sprinted back towards the house, thankful for not being far away from it.

* * *

><p>Thorin burst through the front doors, causing a yelp to come from the living room.<p>

"Thorin?!" Fréya said in shock as he raced down the hall to his room to gather his weapons. He grabbed his swords and armour and took them out into the living room to put them on and talk to Fréya at the same time.

"Thorin what's going on?" The dwarrowdam asked nervously as she watched Thorin put on his armour.

"Fréya, there are Orcs outside the city, so I'm going out to join the fight. I need you to fill a bag with blankets and food and head to the Healing House. I want you there where I know you will be safe and take your family with you as well. I want you to tell your father to take his weapons with him as he will be part of the defence for the Healing House should the Orcs get into the city, and tell him it's by my order if there are any arguments with other guards. I want you and your family to help look after and protect Dís until I return." Thorin said as he finished sheathing his weapons.

Fréya looked at him with an open mouth; she had just been given the equivalent position of royal guard to the princess. She nodded and went to leave but spun back. "What of Fíli Thorin? Did you find him?"

Thorin shook his head "We didn't even get a chance to look. There is nothing we can do for him now except keep the Orcs out of the town and hope that is all it takes to keep him safe. Now go!"

Fréya nodded and the pair of them parted ways.


	9. A Lion in a Storm

**Hello everybody! Feels like ages since I last updated so I do apologize! I've had this written for a week or so but I wanted to complete the next chapter before publishing this one. All I have to say is that with this chapter it jumps through viewpoints a little bit so I apologize if it gets a bit annoying in advance, I just want everyone to know what everyone is thinking/feeling throughout the chapter, and its VERY INTENSE! As you'll see the weather is our solid point for knowing where everyone is at a certain time.**

**Just wanted to say welcome to the new followers: Marsie Elvenheart Sinclair, Frodo1512, Gryffbaby and lillali, and to everyone else who has taken time to read and review, you guys are awesome!**

**As much as it breaks my heart I do not own the writings or the characters of The Hobbit or Lord of the Rings, they are the wonderful and exclusive workings of J.R.R Tolkien**

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><p>Thorin raced around to the paddock behind the house and saddled up his pony Acorn, then they rode through Ered Luin to the gate as fast as they could as Thorin knew he needed to be there in order to organise the troops and co-ordinate the attack.<p>

As Thorin approached the garden's he saw Dwalin, Balin, Bofur, Bifur and Gloin all riding towards him from different directions. Thorin stopped Acorn in the middle of the gardens and waited for the others to join him.

"We've told everyone we saw to spread the word and get to cover. Hopefully we can take this Orc filth by surprise and minimise the casualties." Balin said as he and Dwalin stopped next to Thorin.

Thorin nodded his approval and waited for the other three to join them. As they were waiting he saw two human females hurry towards them with children in tow. He couldn't help but hear their conversation as they neared the group of dwarves.

"…A pack of Orcs apparently on the outskirts of town somewhere. I hope those elves and that child came back to town." Said one woman

"The elven twins? Oh they're gorgeous aren't they mother? And what child? They didn't have one when they stopped by the stall yesterday."

"The blonde haired boy. Although he didn't look like an elf, built more like a dwarfling I reckon but I couldn't tell as they disappeared into the Tavern pretty quickly." The mother replied, motioning for the others to hurry past the group of dwarves.

Thorin couldn't help but hear their conversation as they drew near, but the moment the mother mentioned a blonde haired child with two elves Thorin's mouth dropped open and he looked at the Dwarves with him in horror, the other three having just joined them.

Dwalin and Balin looked stricken: was it Fíli who was with these elves?

Thorin leapt off Acorn and grabbed the arms of the two women, spinning them around.

"Excuse me!" The mother said looking startled and trying to pull out of Thorins' grip.

"Please, what were you saying about two elves with a child?" Thorin asked desperately. Fíli couldn't be with these elves, he wouldn't go near them after Thorin had warned him about them.

The mother and eldest daughter looked at each other in surprise whilst sheltering the three younger children from the group of weapon-clad dwarves. "We were saying that the two elves that were in town yesterday at the markets returned early this morning with a blonde haired child. He looked familiar but I can't place him, and he definitely wasn't built like a human or elf child, so I'm assuming he's a dwarfling."

Thorin looked at the group of dwarves in shock, blonde hair amongst humans and dwarves were rare, in fact there were only a handful in Ered Luin and currently there were only three blonde children, only one who happened to be a dwarfling.

"Please, where are they? I need to find them immediately." Thorin said choking slightly on his words.

"I'm sorry I haven't seen them since this morning." The mother said looking at Thorin curiously.

"Hang on mama, I remember seeing them just before come to think of it…" The oldest daughter said looking from her mother to Thorin.

"I was busy packing up the stall early due to the storm and saw them briefly out of the corner of my eye. There was a flash of yellow but I didn't pay much attention to them, I only noticed that they left town. I think Ivy was saying yesterday that they're camping on that field near the forest."

Thorin's hands fell from the two women and he looked at the others in horror, his face paling at what the young woman had said. With quick thanks Thorin jumped back onto Acorn and raced towards the town entrance.

"Balin! What's the matter? What's goin' on?" Gloin called as they raced after Thorin.

"Fíli disappeared yesterday after he left Bofur's, no one's seen him since and by the sounds of things it's because he's with these two elves." Balin called back.

Bofur, Gloin and to some extent Bifur paled considerably when they understood what had Thorin so worried. If Fíli was with these two elves then they had taken him towards the forest where the Orcs were, and they had no clue as to whether the elves were aware of the Orcs that were nearby.

Thorin and his group arrived at the town entrance to find a large group of dwarves assembling with their weapons. As much as Thorin wanted to rush out the gate then and there he knew as the leader of the town he had to co-ordinate the army.

"My Lord, we have just about assembled." One of the lead dwarves told Thorin as they stopped near the troops.

Thorin looked around at the group of dwarves and men that had assembled. A good 50 or so were there ready to go.

"I want 30 of your men stationed around town on top of the outer wall, most of them near the entrance. It's only a small group and we should have the element of surprise. The rest will follow us; get your best riders on horses now!" Thorin told him.

The lead dwarf nodded and started bellowing orders, not five minutes later the square was slightly more deserted with the dwarves on top of the wall or saddled and ready to go behind Thorin. There was a flash of lightning followed by a loud clap of thunder not too long after, the rain following the thunder quickly and heavily.

Thorin looked around the troops, nodded to his friends and spurred his pony forward "Let's go."

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><p>Fíli, Elladan and Elrohir arrived at the field before the storm had started, and Elrohir was currently in the process of teaching Fíli another elven word.<p>

"Mae Govannen Fíli, means welcome." Elrohir sounded it out slowly for Fíli so he could hear the different syllables.

"M-m-mae Gow'nnen?" Fíli asked looking between the two elves as they got closer to their camping place.

"Close enough little one." Elrohir said with a chuckle, whilst Elladan stiffened and looked around.

Elrohir noticed the change in his brother. He stopped Fíli by placing a hand on his shoulder and told him to practice the word a few more times, and they'd get the packs in a minute. "Just sit down and practise ok?" He said whilst coming to stand behind his brother.

"_El, what is it?"_ Elrohir thought to his brother.

Elladan looked at his brother slowly, his eyes wide in alarm. _"We're not alone out here. Get the packs and get the weapons."_

Just as Elrohir heard his brothers' thoughts the wind changed and he suddenly picked up on the smell and sounds that his brother had moments ago: Orcs. Elrohir stiffened, nodded at his brother and moved at a steady yet slow pace towards the trees. The Orcs weren't directly behind them, they were further off to the side but he had no doubt that they knew they were there.

"That storms coming in quickly, I'll just grab the packs then we can head back to town for the night!" Elrohir called out to Fíli loudly, hoping that if the Orcs were listening nearby they wouldn't charge until he and his brother had their weapons.

There was no noise from the forest as Elrohir climbed the tree to the packs. When he got to the hiding place a clap of lightning struck, lighting the valley up which allowed him to look around. From his spot in the tree he spotted the Orc pack and groaned. _"El, I can see them from here, they're close and I'd say there's more than 20."_

"_Great… get down here now, we need to get Fíli out of here. This is no place for a dwarfling."_

Elladan walked over to his and Elrohir's horses that were still grazing nearby. He placed a hand on each of their muzzles and spoke to them softly in Elvish. They both dipped their heads and shook their manes when he had finished and trotted off into the forest in front of them to get far enough away from the danger yet close enough to be called if needed.

Elladan watched them go, he knew that they could try and get Fíli out of there on horseback, but without being armed and with what smelt like Wargs nearby he knew they'd stand no chance trying to run; they had to fight.

Elrohir grabbed the packs and dropped from the tree quickly. He walked over to his brother and Fíli and the pair of them began to arm themselves.

"Why you doing that?" Fíli asked watching the brothers curiously.

"It just makes it easier for us to carry our packs." Elladan said crouching down in front of the dwarfling, and Elrohir stepping in front of him, seemingly to attach something to himself but really to block the view of what his brother was about to do.

Elladan sensed the change in the air surrounding the Orcs just as the thunder and rain started, they were on the move. Fíli with wide eyes clapped his hands to his ears in terror at the loud noise of the thunder and watched as Elladan pulled out a long dagger from his pack and held it out to him.

"Fíli listen to me, we are in danger. There are Orcs nearby and we need to get out of here ok? You need to take this and keep hold of it, it's just to be safe but I swear you won't have to use it."

Fíli paled at Elladan's words and took the dagger with shaking hands. Orcs, the creatures who had killed his father were here again. Fíli nodded to Elladan to show he understood the urgency of the situation.

"Fíli I want you to climb onto my back ok? We're going to get you out of here understood?" Elladan said, going to turn around for Fíli to do exactly that.

"El! There's no time! They're here!" Elrohir called suddenly.

Elladan whipped his head around, there was another flash of lightning and sure enough Elladan could see the pack of Orcs, some of which were on wargs causing him to groan. There was no way they were going to get Fíli out of there now. Fíli whimpered in fear and clutched at Elladan's arm in terror, he was terrified of storms and even more terrified by the Orcs.

"It's alright Fíli, we won't let them touch you ok? I want you to get behind these rocks here and stay hidden. I don't want you to watch but I need you to listen out for any instructions we give you alright?" Elladan said scooping the terrified dwarfling up and placing him behind the rocks where it was safe.

Fíli nodded at Elladan who then pulled away. Fíli wanted to hide but with the loud thunder he knew he wouldn't be able to hear the twins. So Fíli turned around and peeked out from behind the rocks to see Elladan join Elrohir and watched as they both drew their bows, ready to face the incoming enemy.

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><p>Gûndar motioned to his company to move forward through the trees slowly. They had hoped to carry out a surprise attack however they had picked up the scent of a dwarf that had been close by. When Gûndar sent one of his men to investigate they discovered fresh footprints nearby: they had been spotted.<p>

When his scout gave him the news he hissed and turned to them all. "Prepare to move out, we attack now!"

Yes they had been spotted, however it didn't mean that all was lost. Being close to the town gave them a better advantage, Ered Luin was unlikely to get their soldiers prepared in time to avoid an attack.

Gûndar motioned to his men to move quietly through the trees and were slowly gaining on the town when they heard talking coming towards them. He raised his hands to stop and silence his troop. They watched as three beings left the road and walked across the field that was to their right.

"Elves and a dwarfling" he said quietly with glee once he'd finished sniffing the air.

His Warg shifted slightly and growled quietly. Gûndar silenced him with a stroke of his hand, a new plan forming in his mind: he had no interest in the elves but if he could capture the dwarfling, surely he could use him to his advantage to get what he wanted.

Whilst the new plan was forming in Gûndar's mind he failed to notice that the growl his warg made alerted one of the elves to their presence. That, and the fact that it was raining slightly would have made their scent easier to identify in the air.

They heard one of the elves talking loudly all of a sudden "That storms coming in quickly, I'll just grab the packs then we can head back to town for the night!"

"Not going to happen" Gûndar hissed to his company. "Wait until I give the word."

They watched as one of the elves disappeared up the tree, and tried to spot him. There was a flash of lightning but still they could not see him in amongst the leaves. Moments later he dropped down to the ground and walked over to the others. With a wave of his hand they made their way slowly to the edge of the forest, sticking to the shadows.

"Why you doing that?" A small voice floated across the clearing to the waiting Orcs. Gûndar grinned as they arrived at the edge of the forest; this was going to be too easy. The soldiers of Ered Luin would be too late to reach them by the time they had finished here, and all they'd be able to do was watch helplessly as the dwarfling suffered by his hands.

There was a flash of lightning which lit up the entire field including the area they were standing in, and the rain picked up its intensity. Gûndar motioned for his troop to move forward slightly so the elves could see exactly who was about to bring about their demise.

"El! There's no time! They're here!" The cry said, floating towards them.

Suddenly one of the elves picked the dwarfling up and placed him behind the rocks which caused Gûndar to hiss in anger, they weren't going to keep his prize from him.

"Charge" He growled, kicking his Warg into motion.

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><p>Elladan and Elrohir stood and pointed their bows at the oncoming orcs calmly. They had been planning on taking the leader out first, but seeing as they couldn't tell who the leader was, they settled for the second best option which was simple: wipe them all out.<p>

"_Ready brother?"_ Elrohir thought with a hint of amusement, watching the Orcs start their charge. They'd have to wait till they were a little closer before firing on them to do any real damage.

"_As always."_ Was the reply, Elladans lips smirking slightly.

There was a pause before Elrohir allowed his brother to hear his concerns _"We might not make it out of this, will we?"_ Elrohir's thoughts were hesitant, slightly scared even. If it were just the two of them they would have been able to pull it off as they had the entire forest at their disposal for defensive and attacking purposes, however with a child behind them there was no way that they could leave him unprotected and know he was safe the entire time.

"_We will make it out of this brother, just like we do every time. We might end up a little worse for wear, but we will not die this night." _Elladan thought firmly_ "I will not let you die this night."_ He added to his thoughts, more softly.

Elrohir and Elladan looked at each other, love and trust flashing over their features briefly before they turned back to the Orcs and as one they fired an arrow at two of the Wargs, the aim of the arrows true and landing right between their eyes sending the two wargs and their riders to the ground in a heap.

"Bet I kill more tonight." Elrohir said calmly

"You think? Two weeks of kitchen duty and my chores says your wrong." Elladan shot back with a grin.

"You're on."

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><p>Thorin pushed Acorn as fast as he'd go. He HAD to reach the field, he HAD to stop those Orcs and most importantly he HAD to save Fíli from these creatures. He couldn't lose him. He just couldn't.<p>

Thorin looked behind him and saw the same grim determination on the faces of his friends and guards. Balin had spread the word through the rest of the riders that Thorin's nephew was with the two elves that were believed to be camping on the outskirts of town, and right now the three of them were in serious danger. The news of the golden haired Fíli being in danger sparked fury in the riders and they were all dead-set on ensuring he made it home in one piece.

They were getting closer, only a few more minutes to get to the corner that would lead them to the field.

A roar and clash of metal rang through the air, freezing Thorin's blood and making him go pale. They were too late on getting Fíli away from the Orcs, as they could clearly hear a battle taking place not far from them, in the field no doubt. He looked at the others and noticed the same paleness and fear on all their faces.

There was only one thought on Thorin's mind now: get to Fíli.

He urged Acorn on faster, dreading what he might find.

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><p>Elrohir released another arrow, hitting an Orc straight in the eyes. So far they had taken down five each, and disposed of a third of their enemies without having to draw their swords. Of course the 10 didn't count all the Wargs they'd taken down, and they'd only managed to take down a couple of those, so maybe the odds were still against them.<p>

Elladan released another arrow then turned his head quickly to look behind him. Fíli's eyes were the size of saucers, he was as pale as fresh snow and was shaking uncontrollably in fear, clutching the dagger to him like it was a life line and watching everything.

"Fíli! I told you to stay hidden!" Elladan yelled as he turned his attention back to the front and released another arrow taking down a Warg in the process. He and Elrohir were almost out of arrows so he drew his sword, saving the last of his arrows for later.

Elrohir looked around, trying to find somewhere safe for the dwarfling to go before the Orcs were upon them to keep him out of reach. He spotted a low hanging branch nearby that with a little help they might be able to get Fíli onto and up away from the battle.

"Fíli! Head for the trees! You need to climb, just like I did earlier ok? Wait for me to say go alright?" He said looking over his shoulder to ensure the dwarfling heard him. When there was no response he yelled again.

"Fíli did you hear me? Don't worry about these guys; they won't get near you alright!"

This time Fíli nodded, still too terrified to say anything but he was already standing straight so he could move backwards when Elrohir told him too.

"Alright Fíli start moving now! To the tree where I hid the packs!" Elrohir called to him.

Fíli started shuffling backwards, unable to turn his back but instead watching as the first of the Orcs arrived and Elrohir and Elladan attacking them with grace and brute strength with their swords.

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><p>Gûndar had pulled his Warg off to the side and allowed the others to go ahead of him to deal with the elves. He wanted the dwarfling, so he was trying to work out the best way of getting to him without getting himself slaughtered. As he watched the battle with interest that was when he heard it,<p>

"_Fíli! Head for the trees! You need to climb, just like I did earlier ok? Wait for me to say go alright!"_

Gûndar grinned: this was going to be too easy. He wasn't planning on letting the dwarfling live long, but he did want to ensure he was in as much pain as possible.

He grinned at the little dwarfling who was edging towards the trees.

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><p>Thorin and his companions arrived at the top of the slope overlooking the field and took in the sight before them. There were Orc and Warg bodies scattered across the ground leading from the forest to the current battle, all with arrows sticking out of them. Thorin scanned the fight and spotted what looked like the two elves, darting in and out of the Orcs, silver flashes near every Orc that fell. '<em>They're good warriors'<em> Thorin thought absent-mindedly '_Not bad for their kind_.'

A flash of lightning lit up the area and that's when Thorin spotted the golden hair near the tree line. Fíli was facing the battle and moving towards the trees, refusing to turn his head in fear he could be attacked. A burst of thunder rolled through the valley making Fíli jump and look around for the noise in fear. Even with Orcs attacking he still had time to be afraid of the thunder.

They'd only stopped for several seconds to take in their surroundings, so a movement off to the side of the battle caused Thorin to pause a little longer to see what it was.

Lightning lit up the valley again, revealing an Orc astride a Warg with a bow, and an arrow pointing straight towards the battle. Only then did Thorin realise that the elves were too far to the Orcs left to be the intended target. No he was aiming past the battle. He was aiming at,

"FÍLI! NOOOOOOO!" Thorin screamed, and as the dwarfling looked to the slope upon hearing his name, all Thorin and his companions could do was watch in horror as the arrow crashed into Fíli's chest.


	10. A Painful Reunion

**Hello again everybody! Wowzers! What an awesome response to my last chapter! Hope I didn't break too many hearts but from the reviews I got I think my hoping has been for nothing :3 What a cruel but awesome cliff hanger to write! I loved writing it and it took me a few days to do so I'm glad you all enjoyed it. I apologize for my massive break between chapters, have been reading lots of different stories so time just slips by, but am determined to get this thing finished as my head is just swimming with all sorts of ideas for new stories!**

**Welcome to my new followers: GryffindorByHeart7, ACreativeHobbit, KungFuSchildi, ryro-fanfiction-x3, PJO-Blue-cookies, xbubblesx3o18x, redhairandahandmedownrobe, LiadanAlice, Juliana Rain, carome and Perenne Allegro glad you guys are loving the story! And love all my current followers as well!**

**This is more a filler chapter than anything but enjoy anyway!**

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><p>Through the rain Fíli saw glimpses of Elladan and Elrohir taking down Orc after Orc, never stopping or faulting in their movements. They were graceful and strong, yet fierce and deadly, everything he wanted to be when he started training. Fíli decided he was going to make sure that it was them who taught him when he was older, or the person who had trained them as he wanted to be just as good.<p>

As he slowly moved backwards he stumbled a little on a root, and realised this meant he was near the trees. He looked away from the battle briefly to look for the tree Elrohir had been climbing and spotted it off to his left. Focusing on the battle once more he made his way across slowly in order to wait for one of his brothers.

Lightning lit the clearing and illuminated the battlefield, allowing Fíli to see that there were a large number of Orcs who were strewn across the ground, and two glints of silver from the Elvish blades that were still cutting the enemy down. Elladan and Elrohir had managed to eliminate half their enemy by now and neither appeared to be tiring or slowing down.

Fíli jumped when the thunder hit and despite what was happening around him he threw his hands up to cover his ears, careful not to cut his cheek open with the dagger that was still in his hands. The thunder was getting louder and it had frozen him to the spot, he was too scared to even think about moving anymore. He decided he was just going to wait where he was until Elrohir came and helped him.

There was another flash of lightning revealing the twins clearly for the first time since they had met the Orcs. Fíli watched as one of the twins blocked two Orcs with his swords, stabbed one, punched the other, and with a flourish of his swords suddenly neither Orc had a head as their bodies toppled to the ground.

Despite all the noise Fíli heard a cry making him turn his head to the right to see where it had come from,

"FÍLI! NOOOOOOO!"

He knew that voice. "Unca…?" Fíli asked before a pain erupted in his chest, making him stumble backwards from the force of the hit and he looked down to see an arrow protruding from his chest.

Fíli gasped in pain before his legs gave way and he hit the ground, sprawled on his back gasping for breath. As his vision dimmed, he heard his name being called but didn't know where it was coming from or who had called it. As the darkness took hold he could make out the outlines of two beings before his eyes slid shut and he knew no more.

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><p>Elladan and Elrohir moved effortlessly and in synch with each other's movements. Where one would let their guard down temporarily, the other would cover until they could correct their stance. They had always worked like this, two halves making a whole, complimenting and strengthening the others fighting style or occasionally lack of.<p>

They were making easy work of their enemy, the Orcs had really only landed a couple of glancing blows and that was only to areas that were protected, they might gain a couple of bruises if nothing else. The rain was making it easier for them as well as unlike their enemies their eyes were unaffected by the darkness that was occasionally destroyed by the bright light.

Elrohir glanced over his shoulder at Fíli as a burst of thunder rolled through the area and saw that the dwarfling who had clapped his hands to his ears and looking wildly around in terror was near the tree.

"He's in place! Cover me so I can help him into the tree!" Elrohir yelled, turning his attention hastily back to the battle in order to stop an Orc from bashing his head in.

He and Elladan tried to gain enough time to help the dwarfling when another bolt of lightning struck, and a cry pierced the air.

"FÍLI! NOOOOOOO!"

Both elves were currently tangled with an Orc and a Warg so they couldn't turn to see where the cry had come from, but they both clearly heard the _twang_ from a bowstring milliseconds after the cry. Elladan and Elrohir felt their blood turn to ice as through all the noise they heard a sickening thud and a small gasp.

Killing their opponents they spun on the spot and the air left their lungs as though they had been punched in the chest when they spotted the one being they were looking for. Illuminated by yet another flash of lightning was Fíli; soaked to the skin from the rain, pale from the cold and fear and his head slightly bowed as he looked at the arrow sticking out of his chest, just shy of where his heart was. His blue eyes blinked in surprise as he looked at Elladan and Elrohir before he stumbled backwards slightly and fell flat on his back, the sounds of him gasping for breath like someone was screaming in their ears.

"FÍLI!" They screamed.

The elves looked at each other in horror before turning to take down four more Orcs who thought it would be a good idea to sneak up on them when their backs were turned, they were going to make this filth pay for what they had done, then they were going to save Fíli by any means necessary.

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><p>Thorin thought his heart had frozen in his chest even as he kicked Acorn into motion and charged down the slope towards his nephew. He heard the hooves of all the other horses close behind as they charged towards the Orcs.<p>

_What if he's... _ "No" Thorin whispered to himself. He wouldn't think about that, he wouldn't let his mind finish that question because he knew it to be a lie. Fíli would be fine, he had to be. Thorin didn't think he'd survive his grief if something happened to his golden-haired nephew.

"You lot, capture the one with bow if possible, kill the rest!" He heard Dwalin bellow somewhere behind him, unable to stop his voice from cracking.

Thorin and his companions charged towards Fíli, whilst the soldiers broke rank and went after the remaining Orcs, there weren't many of them as the elves had managed to eliminate more than half of their number.

Thorin watched as the two elves raced over to Fíli and crouched either side him.

"Fíli!" Thorin yelled as he dismounted Acorn when he drew near and raced to his nephew. Thorin froze when he saw Fíli more clearly. His nephew was pale, so pale he looked like he could have matched freshly fallen snow in colour, his hair was plastered to his forehead from the rain, his eyes were closed and face was clear of pain which was a bad sign, but what caught Thorin's attention the most was the blood that was pooling quickly on his tunic around the shaft of the arrow.

He threw himself at the ground near Fíli's head and looked at the two elves who were talking rapidly in Elvish, hands moving quickly over Fíli's body, although what they were searching for Thorin had no clue.

Suddenly one of the elves let out a piercing whistle whilst the other scooped Fíli into his arms and stood.

"Where do you think yer going?! Put him down or I'll separate yer head from yer body elf!" Dwalin roared, drawing his sword and pointing it at the two elves. Dwalin and the rest of the company had stayed just behind Thorin, partly to avoid intruding on Thorin's pain, but also because they really didn't want to see where the arrow had hit, but their efforts were for nothing as it was the only thing that they could focus on.

The elf that wasn't carrying Fíli looked at the group of dwarves in anger. "We are taking Fíli to Ered Luin to a healer, he's barely hanging in there and we refuse to let him die. We do not know what claim you think you have to him, and seeing as we don't know you or what your relationship to him is we are not surrendering him to you either." Elrohir spat back at Dwalin, walking up to him until he was towering over the dwarf with anger etched into his normally carefree face.

Thorin glared up at the elf holding Fíli "He is my nephew, I am the only one here who has a claim to him." His voice was angry but it was controlled; he was trying to hold it together for Fíli. He wasn't going to let him die and these elves were saying that they wanted to help him. Whilst he hated elves with a passion he wasn't about to turn away any help when the situation was so dangerous.

Elladan glanced at his brother in surprise, so this dwarf must be part of the family that Fíli was trying to run from. Yet this dwarf had brought out an army with him in order to rescue his nephew, it didn't exactly scream 'unloved' to either elf like Fíli said he was.

"If you want your nephew to survive Master dwarf, then I suggest you let us help." Elladan looked past Thorin to where his and Elrohir's horses came galloping in to view from the forest.

"We are going to ride into Ered Luin and I would recommend you do the same."

Elladan waited for his brother to mount his horse before he handed Fíli up to him, Elrohir holding Fíli close to him and pressing his hand to Fíli's chest to try and help stop the blood that was escaping. Elladan snatched their packs off the ground and mounted his horse, glanced at the group of dwarves who were re-saddled and urged his horse into a gallop back towards Ered Luin with his brother and their precious cargo right next to him and the dwarven company close behind.

Elrohir and Elladan looked at their friend in fear

_Hang in there Fíli, hang in there._


	11. The House of Healing

**A/N Hello everybody! So once again a few days gap between chapters I do apologise profusely! This chapter was rather hard to write for two reasons, one of which you'll pick up on I'm sure, but the other I just didn't know how to write it. Anyway! I hope you enjoy this chapter, I'm not going to say anything else on this matter! :)**

**Welcome to perfectharmony22, sassygirl9811, Pucaroo, Lithuenne and OwenHarpersGirl! Glad you guys are enjoying the story! And once again thanks to all my current favouriters/followers! Love you all to death and love all the amazing reviews! Let me know what you think! :)**

**As much as it breaks my heart I do not own the writings or the characters of The Hobbit or Lord of the Rings, they are the wonderful and exclusive workings of J.R.R Tolkien**

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><p>"OPEN THE GATES!" Dwalin roared into the night.<p>

The company of dwarves charged towards the gates, hot on the heels of the two elves that carried their precious cargo. The gates swung open just as the elves arrived at the wall and they shot through the gates without slowing down. Through the driving rain Thorin could see the elves slow briefly looking wildly about to try and spot a building that might house a healer.

Thorin galloped past them and roared out over his shoulder "THIS WAY! HURRY!"

The elves spurred their horses on and followed the dwarf towards wherever he was going, the rest of his companions close behind.

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><p>Houses blurred by in a flurry from motion and rain, but despite his surroundings Elrohir only had eyes and ears for the dwarfling he had seated in front of him, a hand pressed to his chest to try and stop the bleeding, and the rest of his body to try and shelter Fíli from the elements.<p>

Elrohir hated how they'd had to return to town to heal Fíli. He and Elladan had argued in Elvish over what to do when the dwarves had arrived.

"_We can try heal him here, just remove the arrow and hopefully we can reverse the damage that's been done." Elrohir said._

"_No! You know that healing serious injuries is still difficult for us, and we don't have anything we need to do it successfully! Besides with these dwarves, the rain and the loss of blood Fíli isn't going to survive if we stay here."_

"_What are you suggesting?" Elrohir asked his brother urgently_

"_We take him to Ered Luin. We find a healers building where we have access to medicinal supplies and warmth and we work there. If we don't act soon he'll no doubt suffer a fever and will likely fall to pneumonia from the cold." Elladan said swiftly scooping Fíli into his arms as Elrohir let out a piercing whistle._

The two dwarves who were leading slowed in front of a house and the one who had threatened Elrohir with his sword raced inside, bellowing at the top of his lungs.

Elrohir looked down and saw his brother by his side with his arms open. Carefully and gently Elrohir lowered Fíli to his brother, dismounted his horse and raced after his brother.

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><p>"OIN! OIN WHERE ARE YA! WE 'AVE WOUNDED!" Dwalin bellowed as he raced through the door of the Healing House. He paused the moment he charged in as there were several healers picking supplies up off the floor as they'd dropped them in fright with his yelling. He heard hurried footsteps and turned towards the sound to see Oin and two other healers on his tail.<p>

"How many?" Oin asked as he neared Dwalin.

"Jus' one. It's Fíli Oin. He g... he got hurt." Dwalin's voice broke slightly as he spoke quietly to Oin so as not to alert anyone, specifically Dís who was most likely awake by now.

Oin's eyes widened in shock at the news and his mouth dropped open as Thorin ran in with two elves hot on his tail, one holding the golden haired dwarfling.

"Oh Mahal…" Oin whispered. He looked at the two elves briefly before motioning for them to follow him. "This way, quickly."

The elves nodded and strode after Oin, Thorin, Dwalin and Balin hurrying behind them.

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><p>Oin led them into a room that was the furthest from Dís's room. The last thing any of them wanted was for her to hear her son screaming in pain in a room next to her and for her to come bursting in making things harder than they already were.<p>

Elladan strode forwards and placed Fíli down gently onto the table that was there. He was about to start checking Fíli to try and find out how deep the arrow had gone when the sound of a sword being drawn had him spin around, hand on his sheathed sword to meet this new foe.

"Don't even think about it." Thorin hissed at him, the tip of his sword at Elladan's throat and the sound of multiple swords being drawn echoing around the room.

Elladan cursed under his breath and looked around; Elrohir had his sword pointing at three dwarves who had him corned and their swords pointing at his throat.

Bofur, Gloin and Bifur had secured all the ponies and the two horses in the stable at the side of the Healing House before rushing in, and seeing the nod Thorin gave to Dwalin when they entered the room they could easily guess what he had planned. The moment Thorin drew his sword they cornered the other elf to stop him from trying to help his brother, although they weren't sure if this was a particularly bright idea given the situation, and the fact these elves had finished a battle not 10 minutes prior and would be full of adrenaline which could make the situation worse if they acted.

"What do you think you are doing?" Elladan asked angrily.

"It is your fault Fíli is like this, if you hadn't taken him he would have been safe and he wouldn't be lying here," Thorin nodded to Oin to start looking at Fíli before turning his attention back to the elf. "The ONLY reason you are still alive is because you brought my nephew here. Now I suggest you leave before change my mind." Thorin hissed at the elf.

"We can help him!" The elf who was cornered by Bofur, Bifur and Gloin insisted angrily.

"The only help ya can give is if ya git yer miserable hides out of Ered Luin and never return!" Dwalin spat out.

There was a stare down between the elves and dwarves before Elrohir turned to his brother.

"El," was all he said, jerking his head towards the door.

Elladan spat out an elvish curse, looked at Fíli fearfully for a brief moment and strode out of the room after his brother, barely flinching when the door was slammed shut.

"_We can't leave him! Not like this!"_ Elladan thought angrily to his brother who had walked away from the room.

"_We're not leaving him,"_ Elrohir thought back, returning with two chairs and placing them opposite the door, sitting heavily in one. _"We are going to stay here and listen to what happens. The moment they need help we are going to barge in there and take over, even if it gets us banned from here for life, I will not let him die. I just hope the wound isn't too severe."_

Elrohir really, REALLY hoped the wound wasn't severe.

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><p>Thorin raced over to Fíli's side and grabbed his nephews hand with one hand, and running his free one through the soaked hair.<p>

"How bad Oin?" Thorin asked, his voice barely above a whisper. When he received no reply he cleared his throat and asked louder, his voice cracking as he tried to talk.

Oin looked at him briefly from inspecting Fíli's chest, grabbing at a cloth from a healer who had come in to try to clean away and slow the bleeding as he talked. "Bad. The arrows deep Thorin, deeper than I would like, and already a fever is raging through his body." He knew there was no use trying to lessen the blow. "Gloin get the fire going, otherwise you'll all end up with pneumonia, Fíli included." He said over his shoulder loudly.

He looked back at Thorin with concern. "That's not the worst part I'm afraid. The location of the arrow shaft is right next to his heart, yet the entry hole is much bigger than it would normally be."

Thorin looked at Oin, fear flooding him completely; waiting for Oin to voice what he was couldn't stop thinking.

"Thorin, it means that the arrow head must be a great deal bigger than it should be and because of its size it has most likely caused some form of damage to his heart."

Thorin's knees hit the ground and there was a silence that settled over the room, the new information sinking in for the dwarves gathered.

A whimper from the table drew Oin's attention as Fíli started writhing underneath the healers hands. Thorin jumped back to his feet to try and help Oin and the other healer still his nephew.

"Stop Fíli, don't move little one." Thorin said in as gentle voice as he could muster for the time being.

Fíli's eyes cracked open and looked up towards Thorin, unable to focus.

"Unca… Hurts…" He moaned, before a scream of agony was wrenched from his lips and his body began thrashing under the hold of Thorin, Dwalin and Balin whilst the two healers tried to stop the blood that was beginning to flow quickly once more.

The other dwarves stood there watching in horror at the scene before them when the door suddenly crashed open, causing everyone to look towards the new arrival.

"Dís!"

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><p>Fréya had just left Dís's room in order to find some more blankets for Dís, herself and baby Kíli as it was getting colder due to the storm. She had spent some time holding Kíli and marvelling at the gift of new life in front of her, as she'd never seen a newborn before as her siblings were older than her, and she'd never been allowed around babies until they were a little older. She and Dís spent a lot of time talking about Kíli and how gorgeous he was. She knew Dís was glad for the company, as Thorin had left her hours ago to fetch Fíli, and when asked about their absence Fréya had made up some excuse about Thorin not bringing Fíli until Dís was well rested, but that he had asked Fréya to go be there and help Dís if she needed it.<p>

Fréya was walking down the door when an almighty roar made her jump in fright

"OIN! OIN WHERE ARE YA! WE HAVE WOUNDED!"

"Dwalin?" Fréya whispered to herself with a frown as she hurried forwards to see who had been injured.

Fréya peered around the corner to the main waiting room and saw Dwalin and Oin talking quickly, then watched as two large beings entered the house followed by Thorin and Balin.

The moment the two strangers stepped into the Healing House Fréya felt her stomach drop and thought she was going to be sick. There, cradled in one of the taller persons arms was a dwarf with blonde hair, and an arrow pointing straight up from somewhere in his torso.

"Fíli" Fréya whispered in horror, leaning against the wall for support.

He'd been hurt, the little dwarfling she loved with all her heart had been hurt and all because she hadn't kept an eye on him. She knew she would never forgive herself, not for this.

Movement towards her spurred her into motion to move quickly back down the hallway to hide behind a dresser and watch as Oin led the group towards a room. The moment they had disappeared through the door Fréya stumbled back to Dís's room completely unaware of how pale she had become.

Fréya all but fell through the door when she opened it and collapsed against the wall after shutting the door behind her.

She looked at Dís in horror to see that Dís was busy cuddling Kíli and had yet to look at her.

"Was that Dwalin I heard? Is everything alright out there?" Dís asked still focused on her baby, making cooing noises at her arms.

When there was no reply Dís looked up to take in Fréya's pale and terrified features.

"Fréya, what's the matter?" Dís asked looking concerned. She got up, placed Kíli in his cot and moved towards her, placing a hand on Fréya's shoulders.

"Fréya? Who's out there? Who was hurt?" Dís asked firmly.

Fréya shook her head slightly, her mouth opening and closing several times unable to get any sound out.

"Fíli…" Was all Fréya managed to whisper.

Dís stood completely still, the colour draining from her face before she dashed out the door with Fréya right behind her.

Dís stood in the hallway, looking around wildly for any sign of her golden son. She noticed two men sitting outside of a room right at the end of the hall. As she drew closer an agonised scream that could only belong to a child tore through the air.

The two men looked up in horror at the door opposite them that was shut giving Dís all the answers she needed. With a sob escaping her and Fréya's lips Dís raced over to the door and shoved it open.

The sight that greeted her made her want to scream. There was Thorin, Dwalin and Balin holding down a dwarf to stop them from thrashing whilst Oin and a healer were nearby trying to do something, and there was an arrow sticking straight up from the dwarf on the table indicating the injury. A flash of gold from the opposite end of the table was all Dís saw of the dwarf's hair but it gave her the answer she needed but didn't want.

She took all this in in a split second before she had all the dwarves in the room looking at her stricken.

"Dís!"

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><p>Thorin thought his heart had stopped as he watched his sister throw herself into the room, terror written all over her face as she raced to the table.<p>

"Fíli! My baby!" She cried as she raced to the table next to Thorin.

Thorin reached out and tried to stop his sister from seeing where the arrow had hit, but it was to no avail.

"NO! FÍLI!" Dís screamed when she saw the arrow sticking out of his chest, beginning to sob.

"Dís! He's alive! He's a fighter and won't leave us, we'll save him I promise you but please you must leave!" Thorin sobbed to his sister, pulling her away from the table whilst tears streaked down his face. He hadn't wanted her to see Fíli like this, and all the emotions and adrenaline were over powering him so much that all he wanted to do was hug his family and cry.

"Fíli…" Dís sobbed as Thorin led her to Fréya who was shaking like a leaf and crying.

"Go… Go be with Kíli, he needs you to stay strong. They both do." Thorin said, leading both dwarrowdams out of the room, unable to stop his voice from breaking as he spoke.

As Thorin shut the door on his sister who was stumbling back to her room he spotted the two elves sitting outside the room looking scared. Their reactions were strange for elves, especially when it wasn't one of their own injured, but he couldn't bring himself to think about it or care as all he wanted to do was to be with Fíli.

Thorin raced over to the table just as Oin was cutting Fíli's shirt away to reveal the entry point, and felt his stomach drop. The entry wound itself wasn't huge; it was smaller than what he had imagined. However what was most concerning were the thick black veins that surrounded the wound and trailed out like webs, as well as the blood that was oozing out slowly, the arrow head now stopping the blood from gushing out.

Thorin choked back a breath when he examined his nephew and looked to Oin in horror.

"What could cause this?" Thorin whispered

Oin looked at Thorin in concern as he picked up a knife from the table. "Restrain him" Oin said to Dwalin with a nod to Thorin.

Before Thorin could move or register what had been said Dwalins' arms wrapped around his chest the same moment Oin placed the knife to Fíli's skin near the wound. Thorin began struggling in Dwalins' arms as Fíli started screaming in pain.

"Stop it! OIN STOP!" Thorin roared still struggling.

"Gimme a hand here and hold him down!" Oin yelled at the other dwarves in the room. Once Balin, Bofur, Gloin and the other healer had Fíli pinned completely to the bed Oin drew the knife across the wound on either side causing black tainted blood to spill from the cuts Oin had made.

When Oin was satisfied the wound was big enough he dropped his blade on the table and grasped the arrow as close to Fíli as he could. "Hold him!" Oin yelled as Fíli began thrashing violently on the table again.

Once the dwarves had Fíli subdued once again he wrenched the arrow up and out, a tearing noise followed by a blood curdling scream echoing round the room.

Oin's assistant quickly stepped up with a towel and pressed it to the open wound as Oin moved to the fire and used the light to examine the arrow head. It was definitely a bigger head than what most arrows had, the tips of the arrow were curved into sharp points designed to ensure if the arrow was pulled at it would cause even more damage, especially if it hit any organs. But the stone it was made of was odd. Oin didn't recognise it at first and ran a list of stones through his mind to try and identify what it was made of when a foul smell hit him. Oin looked at the arrow carefully and gave it a good sniff before it slipped from his hands in horror. He knew what this was… it was something that the Orcs had just started using, and it created one of the worst forms of suffering and death possible.

"OIN!"

A started yell had Oin spinning on the spot and racing over to the table whilst snatching up his stethoscope. The colour had all but drained from Fíli's face, just a sheen of sweat on his pale face as his body started convulsing on the table.

"I need Kingsfoil! Now!" Oin yelled at the other healer as he placed the end of his stethoscope on Fíli's chest, the healer nodded and sprinted from the room.

"Oin! What's happening?!" Thorin asked in a panicked voice, successfully out of Dwalin's hold and back at Fíli's side, whilst Dwalin had switched to Fíli and was currently trying to stop the dwarfling from thrashing on the table in his seizure.

"It was a morgul shaft Thorin, it has only just appeared in Middle Earth. The enemy now uses it, a rock forged from evil magic that bleeds poison. The Kingsfoil should slow down the poison but there is nothing I can…"

The door slammed open and Elladan and Elrohir swept into the room and headed straight for Fíli.

"GET OUT!" Thorin roared at the elves, drawing his sword once again. "YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO BE IN HERE! IT IS YOUR FAULT HE'S LIKE THIS!"

The elves ignored him and continued heading for Fíli. All the dwarves save Oin lunged forward with their swords drawn and stood their ground to block the elves from getting to the dwarfling.

"Move! You may still be naïve to curing wounds like this but we can do it. We will NOT let Fíli die because of a bunch of thick headed dwarves!" Elladan hissed.

"YOU WILL NOT TOUCH MY NEPHEW! IF YOU TAKE ONE MORE STEP I…"

"THORIN!" Oin's choking cry cut Thorin off causing everyone to look at him.

Oin was focused on Fíli's now limp form, his stethoscope still on Fíli's chest to listen to his heart. He looked up with tears in his eyes

"Fíli's heart's stopped."


	12. The Memories We Share

**A/N**

**Hello again everyone! Once again I am SO SORRY for leaving you hanging for so long! Incredibly cruel of me so I do apologize! So this chapter, boy, hard to write but definitely full of feels! One thing you need to remember though is that not a lot of time actually passes during this chapter, only a few minutes which is mentioned near the end. I won't say WHY this is important for you to note, only that it is and you'll pick up on that later on.**

**Now when I was planning this like last month, there was one soundtrack that was totally fitting and I wrote part of this to this particular score. The score to go with the beginning is Titanic - A Promise Kept. Trust me, MAJOR feels alert! O.o, maybe put it on repeat for the second half of the chapter but it definitely works! **

**Welcome to the new followers: snchills, Finduilas88, hunterlab12, StarOfGondolin, DreamElm76, midnightblue93, IAmCaptainAwesme and emmakmcoutlook! And thank you once again to all my other followers! You guys are AMAZING!  
><strong>

**As much as it breaks my heart I do not own the writings or the characters of The Hobbit or Lord of the Rings, they are the wonderful and exclusive workings of J.R.R Tolkien**

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><p>Sound was but a whisper in a suffocating vacuum of shock. Thorin thought he remembered hearing his sword hit the stone floor and bounce several times, hearing the metal clanging as it came to rest but he's wasn't sure, it sounded so far away. He thought pain and grief were swallowing him whole as it felt as if time were slowing down around him, everyone moving at a fraction of the speed they normally would.<p>

But Thorin only had eyes for Fíli.

Fíli, his first nephew, his golden haired boy, the light for his dark tunnel of a life was gone. Fíli, the one who when he was born and gave Thorin a coo when he was held for the first time was the one who chased Thorin's nightmares away for the first time in a long time. Fíli, the one who made Thorin believe that maybe, just maybe everything would be alright.

But he was gone.

Thorin felt someone grab him, muscly tattooed arms wrapped around his shoulders: Dwalin. Thorin heard a cry echo through the room, realising that it was coming from his parted lips as his knees hit the stone floor, watching as the two elves ran towards Fíli.

Thorin looked around at the others gathered: Dwalin, his brother-in-arms who was holding onto him with everything he had, trying to ground the pair of them to stop them from disappearing in their grief had tears streaming down his face. Balin, Thorin's most trusted advisor and father figure holding onto Dwalin's shoulder with his head bowed in despair. Oin, at a loss for words as he gaped down at the dwarfling who had become still on the table, decades of experience as a healer unable to prepare him for the loss of a child who was dear to him. Bofur and Gloin, two of Thorin's close friends and Fíli's honorary Uncle's clutching at each other in horror and pain for what they've lost whilst Bifur stood guard next to them watching Fíli curiously, as though waiting for Fíli to yell surprise and start giggling madly.

But it doesn't happen.

Thorin swayed slightly as the two elves (what are they still doing here?) leapt over him towards Fíli, their words echoing faintly in his ears in a jumble, and all Thorin did was watch them out of blurry eyes as they stopped on either side of Fíli, one talking to Oin and the other yelling to the left at the open door.

Thorin could only watch the table, memories of his nephew flitting through his mind; the first time Fíli smiled at him when he was born, Fíli's first word, the first time Fíli said "Unca" with so much love and a smile on his face that Thorin didn't stop the tears that ran down his face, his first steps and so many other firsts.

But other memories that weren't milestones were also at the forefront of his mind; teaching Fíli how to make a snowman when he was old enough, lying on a grassy hill with Fíli tucked into his side when he came home from his journeys and just watching the clouds and laughing at the different shapes only a child could see in them, Fíli pretending Thorin was a horse and riding on his back for ages until Thorin became a tickle monster sending the youngster off screaming in joy to hide from this new foe (and finding a new horse in the unfortunate Dwalin who happened to walk in the door at that moment to help defeat said tickle monster), Fíli tucked in next to him in a chair near the fireplace and Thorin reading a book of fairy tales whilst his parents were out for the night, and Thorin's most treasured memory; Fíli sneaking into Thorin's room during a thunderstorm, clambering up onto his bed to stroke Thorin's hair because he wanted to make sure Thorin wasn't scared from all the loud noise. Thorin of course had been sleeping soundly only to wake to Fíli running his hands over his hair and realised that Fíli was scared, so playing along Thorin thanked Fíli for protecting him and asked his nephew if he'd stay the night so they could protect each other. When Dís had gone in the next morning in a panic when she couldn't find Fíli it was only to find him lying on top of Thorin with a thumb in his mouth, both sound asleep, and something both parents, Dwalin and Balin saw and had never let Thorin live down since.

Thorin knew that memories like those were all he'd get, he'd never get to make new ones with his nephew like teaching him how to ride a horse or fight, watching him learn to read and write, and knowing that Kíli would never get to know his golden haired brother.

There was a scream that pierced the air, bringing the sound back to its entirety and wrenching Thorin from his dazed remembrance, making him turn his head only to feel his heart clench so painfully he thought he might choke. Standing in the doorway was Dís, eyes wide and sweeping across all the dwarves in the room, with Fréya standing behind her trying to comfort a screaming Kíli. Dís's eyes swept the room before focusing on Thorin, and seeing the lost and broken expression in his eyes she fell to her knees and screamed and wept.

"NO! No no no no no no! Fíli! FÍLI! BABY PLEASE!" Dís screamed at the table.

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><p>"I need Athelas! NOW! WHERE IS IT?!" Elladan yelled over the hysterical dwarrowdam and baby in the doorway.<p>

"Get me a bowl of hot water also" Elrohir said to Oin who nodded and hurried over to the table nearby.

The young healer burst into the room shoving past Fréya and Dís and darted around all the dwarves to the elves.

"What are yer goin' to do?" Oin asked, returning with a bowl of hot water.

"We won't let him die. His heart may have stopped but it doesn't mean he's gone." Elladan said grabbing the Athelas off the young healer and shoving it into the hot water, shredding it with his hands and rolling it into a mushy paste with his fingers.

Elrohir was doing the same with the Athelas as his brother, but was suddenly shoved to the side by Dís who had taken a still screaming Kíli off Fréya and hurried over to the table whilst sobbing.

"Fíli! Fíli darling you have to w…wake up! You have to wake up so you can meet Kíli. You're a b…big brother now, there's so m…much that you have to teach him for mummy… Please darling!" Dís begged over Kíli's screaming, shaking Fíli's limp form on the table with one hand whilst trying to settle Kíli to no avail.

"Get her out of here!" Elladan shouted, looking at Thorin.

Dwalin hurried forward and pulled Dís away from her son whilst being careful of Kíli. The further away Dwalin pulled Dís, the louder Kíli's screaming became which made Dís cry even more. Dwalin gently pulled Dís to Thorin and when she reached him she fell to her knees and leaned into Thorin who wrapped his arm around his sister, tears streaming down his face.

Elladan and Elrohir quickly began applying the Athelas paste that they'd made to Fíli's wound, pushing it inside until it was overflowing from the hole.

"I suggest you move back master dwarves, you are only going to get in the way." Elladan said to the two healers who nodded and moved clear of the table, but were close enough to see what would happen.

Elrohir looked to his brother _"This is going to hurt, isn't it?"_ he asked in Elvish, not wanting to alert the dwarves to what was about to happen.

_"I'm afraid so, however with the two of us hopefully it won't be as bad."_ Elladan said looking at his brother sadly.

Elladan and Elrohir faced each other from opposite sides of the table and each placed a hand on Fíli's forehead and their other hand over the wound so that Elrohir's hand rested on top of his brothers. The brothers closed their eyes, took a deep breath and began to chant.

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><p>The moment the Elves began to chant all the dwarves could sense a shift in the room; it was like they were being pulled at from different angles causing their skin to itch and their bodies to sting, and the air felt heavier than normal making it difficult to breathe. The chanting had started off quietly but gradually got louder, until it sounded like the Elves were talking to each other at a normal if not slightly louder level.<p>

Thorin knew that they were using some sort of Elven magic because he could feel his energy being drained slightly. The chanting was affecting the fireplace and all the lanterns in the room as the lights were beginning to flicker, increasing then decreasing in strength. Everyone's eyes were fixed on the Elves as their chanting became stronger; Kíli's cries the only other noise to be heard in the packed room.

A light began to glow around the Elves and Fíli, the flames in the fireplace flickering and fanning dangerously as though a gust of wind was trying to blow it out. Thorin watched with wide eyes as the white light completely engulfed the Elves and the table, blinding everyone in the room and forcing them to throw their arms across their eyes to block out the light.

Twin cries pierced the air and all light extinguished in the room throwing them all into darkness.

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><p>A single light from a flint broke through the black void.<p>

"Can't see a flamin' thing…" Gloin grumbled into the dark silence as he stumbled towards the fireplace and poured some oil onto the logs before tossing the flint inside bringing the fire back to full strength.

The other dwarves removed their arms from their eyes and looked at the table. The two elves were slumped on the floor unmoving, the two healers quickly scrambling to check on them. Thorin picked himself off the floor and moved to the table, his footsteps heavy in the silent room now that Kíli was strangely silent.

Thorin looked at one of the elves as he drew closer to the table, the elf was incredibly pale, and a trail of blood was trickling from his nose and when he peered over at the other elf he saw that he was just the same.

"Oin…" Thorin said turning his attention from the elves to his nephew, his heart in his mouth and tears in his eyes, hoping, _praying_, that the elves had done something.

Oin stood and picked up his stethoscope and moved to the table placing the stethoscope to Fíli's chest, shaking his head sadly. Fíli's heart was as still as it had been when it had stopped three minutes prior.

Thorin let out a sob, only to be silenced when there was a coo and a clapping of hands that had all the dwarves turning to look at Kíli, only to see his attention focused on the table. He gave another coo and clapped his hands together with a smile lighting up his face.

Fíli gasped for breath, followed by a hacking cough, trying to get his lungs working again.


	13. Of Pain, Introductions and Forgiveness

**A/N Hello everyone! Yes I'm alive! I'm so sorry it's taken so long to publish this chapter! It started off really easy to write, but then after a couple of days away from it I was just unable to come back to the flow I'd been in, but have been working on it piece by piece. I feel like I've drawn this chapter out a bit so I REALLY DO APOLOGIZE! Especially if you get bored with it, but there's lots of feels between our characters that I felt would be important to write for it.**

**I must say I felt like doing a Dis with Thorin when I wrote a certain section, I can see it happening in front of me as clear as day and it made me just want to wrap my arms around him. Hope it makes you feel similar :D**

**Welcome to the new followers RoseDew, .1420, Mythgirllily, TheMojoJojo95, Charasmatic Mouse, BlossomHunt, jaymzNshed, I'm sane i think, , and I love all the reviews I've been receiving so far! You guys are awesome!**

**I PROMISE to try and have the next chapter out in about a week! (Fingers crossed!)**

**As much as it breaks my heart I do not own the writings or the characters of The Hobbit or Lord of the Rings, they are the wonderful and exclusive workings of J.R.R Tolkien**

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><p>Thorin looked between Kíli and Fíli in astonishment, <em>how had Kíli…?<em> Thorin shook his head, deciding that for the time being he really didn't want to think about it. Thorin moved to Fíli's side close to his head and took a small hand in both of his.

"Breathe Fíli, that's it deep breaths." Thorin said gently.

"Unca…?" Fíli whispered in a hoarse voice, his eyes cracking open just the tiniest amount but still allowing Thorin to see a bit of blue making his heart soar with joy.

Thorin bent down and placed his lips upon Fíli's forehead, kissing him gently and running a hand through Fíli's wet and tangled hair. "Rest little one, you've had quite an adventure." He said gently with a small smile playing on his lips.

Fíli managed to nod his head weakly once before his eyes drifted shut and sleep stole him away. Thorin kept stroking his hair and looked to Oin. "Where should I take him?"

"Next door has a bed, give me a few minutes to arrange for the fire to be lit and furs to be brought in. Gloin, Bofur, give me a hand would ya?"

Gloin and Bofur nodded and followed Oin out of the room, and they in turn were followed by the young healer who went to fetch chairs and food to be placed in the room next door, after all none of them would be leaving the Healing House now.

Dís handed Kíli off to Fréya who had been tucked into the corner of the room on the floor with her head between her hands and tears streaming down her face. She took the now quiet Kíli with a nod and hugged the small baby to her gently and watched Dís move back to Fíli's side, pressing featherlite kisses to the baby's forehead.

* * *

><p>"Don't you ever do anything like that to me again Fíli, do you hear me?" Dís sobbed quietly, placing a hand on her sons' tiny chest to reassure herself that he was still breathing. After a moment she looked down to the two elves that were still slumped unconscious on the floor then looked to Thorin.<p>

"Who are they?" She asked quietly.

Thorin looked at his sister in confusion before following her line of sight, his face darkening when his eyes lit on the elves again.

"They are the reason Fíli is like this. He was with them when the Orcs attacked. It is because of them we almost lost him tonight." He replied, anger flooding his words.

Dís looked at the elves for a moment before looking at Thorin with a frown. "No Thorin, they are not responsible. I do not pretend to know the entire situation but it was an Orc arrow, not an Elven arrow that was in his chest," she gestured to the arrow that had been placed off to the side after being dropped near the fireplace "and it was them who saved my son, not any of us. Do not lay blame on them, especially with the state they are in at the moment. I do not believe any elf would place themselves in a vulnerable position for someone they did not care about." Dís said strongly.

She looked around the room and when she couldn't see anything she wanted she turned to Dwalin. "Dwalin would you be a dear and fetch two pillows and two furs from my room please?" She asked in a voice so firm that Dwalin didn't dare argue, choosing instead to leave the room to do as she asked.

Dwalin returned moments later and handed the requested bedding to Dís who crouched next to the elves in turn and placed a pillow under their heads and a warm fur over them, all the while doing her tasks under Thorin's scrutiny, returning his glare just as strongly.

Oin returned quickly and told Thorin that Fíli's room was ready for him. Thorin nodded and placed an arm under Fíli's knees and the other behind his shoulders and lifted him gently from the table, cradling him to his chest in order to lessen the jostling Fíli would otherwise go through and followed Oin from the room with Dís and the others, except for the elves, Fréya and Kíli, following close behind.

Thorin entered the room and moved to the bed. He pressed his lips to Fíli's forehead and hugged him before placing him down gently on the mattress. Once Fíli was settled he placed several furs over him to keep him warm before turning to Dís and holding out a hand.

"Come, there is no more we can do here, he will sleep for some time and rest is something you require as well, you did just bring another child into the world after all."

Dís looked like she wanted to argue, but instead sighed and allowed Thorin to lead her out of the room towards her own chambers. When they entered Thorin shut the door behind him as Dís moved to her bed.

"Oh! Fréya still has Kíli!" Dís remembered.

"I will fetch him." Thorin said in a quiet voice.

Thorin's quiet tone surprised Dís, so she turned around and saw her elder brothers' gaze fixed on the floor. But what concerned her most was that he seemed to be trembling.

"Thorin…" She said gently, moving in front of him to place one hand on his shoulder and the other to cup his jaw and tilt his face up to look into his bloodshot and tear filled eyes.

"Oh Thorin…"

"We almost lost him Dís, we almost lost him. I… I can't go through that, not again…" Thorin whispered, now crying freely and finally allowing himself to show his true emotions without fear of scrutiny.

Thorin fell to his knees and wept, Dís kneeling down in front of him and wrapping her arms around his neck, placing a kiss to the top of his head before resting her cheek there. She rocked them back and forth gently as Thorin wrapped his arms around her middle and pressed his face to his stomach, just wanting the touch and reassurance of the only woman he had left to love.

Dís knew that if Fíli had died it would have been what killed Thorin. They had already lost so much, Erebor, their grandfather and father, their beloved brother Frerin and her beloved husband. Fíli was meant to be the end of their grief and suffering, a step forward for their family and the Dwarves of the Blue Mountains, and coming so close to losing him… if he'd died there would've been no way for Thorin to pull himself out of the darkness, not again. Kíli might have been a saving grace but Thorin didn't know him all that well, and the loss of a child that is like your own would be too hard to come back from.

After several minutes Thorin quietened. He took a deep breath and pulled away from his sister. Holding his face she used her thumbs to wipe away his stray tears and gave him a sad smile.

"You were always stronger than me." Thorin said with a quiet chuckle, leaning into her hold.

"The luck of the Durin females I guess." Dís replied gently with a smile.

Thorin rested his forehead against his sisters and sighed.

"Thank you Dís, for giving me two beautiful nephews, for giving me hope, and for giving me the strength I need to carry on." Thorin whispered, looking into his sisters eyes.

"You will always have my love Thorin."

Thorin nodded and stood, extending his hand to his sister.

"Come, let's get you into bed and I will fetch Kíli before I check on Fíli."

Dís nodded to Thorin and let him lead her to her bed where she settled in nicely. As Thorin went to open the door she called out.

"Thorin, if the elves are awake, please bring them here. If anyone knows what happened to Fíli it will be them. And I want to thank them for what they did."

Thorin hesitated at the door before nodding when Dís glared at him.

"Alright alright! I will, I promise."

* * *

><p>Fréya stayed sitting on the floor, hugging Kíli to her as he slept peacefully. She was surprised by how much noise had come out of his tiny lungs but not by how tired it had made him, after being only a day old for Mahal's sake! She shuddered at the images that kept flashing in front of her eyes, seeing Fíli on the table with an arrow sticking out of his chest, Thorin's pain-filled eyes as they entered and suddenly understanding what it meant when Dís screamed, the tightness in her chest when she struggled to breathe when the elves were chanting and the relief from hearing Fíli gasp for breath.<p>

Whilst thinking about all these things she failed to hear or notice Thorin enter the room until he was crouched in front of her causing her to jump slightly.

"Thorin! I… How is Fíli?" Fréya asked, looking at the ground and refusing to meet Thorin's gaze. How could she look at the dwarf who had entrusted his nephew to her? How could she look him in the eye without knowing that what had happened had been all her fault?

"Fréya, I need to talk to you, but first I need to return Kíli to his mother." Thorin said kindly.

Fréya nodded, of course he'd want to get Kíli away from her, and she didn't blame him. After all she hadn't been able to look after a five-year old dwarfling so what made her qualified to look after a day old baby?

She handed Kíli over without saying a word, only kissing his head gently before transferring the sleeping baby, still refusing to make eye contact. She heard Thorin sigh but still refused to look up.

"I'll be back in a moment, stay here." He said gently before standing and leaving the room.

After Thorin left she looked up. She was alone, just like she deserved to be, well at least as alone as you can be with two unconscious elves in the room. It had been just over 10 minutes since Fíli had started breathing again and neither elf had shown any indication of regaining consciousness. Wasn't that bad? Before she could think about it anymore she heard Thorin enter the room and prepared herself.

* * *

><p>Thorin kissed his sister, then his nephew who was bundled in his mother's arms before leaving her room allowing her to feed her son in peace.<p>

He just couldn't shake the way Fréya had looked when he'd entered: scared, alone, _guilty_ even. He knew of course that she'd be blaming herself for what had happened even though she was completely innocent of the blame; she was the unlucky one to be caught up in the middle.

"_This is one thing I need to set straight"_ Thorin thought to himself as he walked back into the room and sat down next to Fréya.

There was silence between the two of them for a few moments. Fréya suddenly found the lines on her hands quite interesting whilst Thorin stared at the opposite wall trying to figure out what to say. Emotional talks, Thorin knew he had about as much experience with emotional talks as he did holding hands with Elves.

"I'm sorry." Thorin said eventually, earning himself a startled look from Fréya. Well, at least she was looking at him now.

"You're sorry? Thorin… YOU have nothing to be sorry for! It's my fault! You asked me to look after him and I didn't. I didn't pay enough attention to how he was feeling, I let him run away and I didn't come get you like I should have. Everything that happened is MY fault and mine alone!" She said, her voice becoming more panicky as she spoke.

Thorin opened his mouth but she spoke over him. "Because of my… my STUPIDITY, I know that this 'talk' is only out of kindness and I understand that you'll look for a new sitter as soon as Fíli is in the clear. I'll tell my Ma and Da what happened. I can't stay, not next door, not with this on my conscious, I'll move. Yes, yes I'll move and that way you won't have to see me and be reminded…"

"Fréya… Fréya… FRÈYA!" Thorin said, trying to interrupt the rambling dwarrow before finally yelling her name in order to silence her.

Thorin took a breath and moved so that he was kneeling in front of her. He grasped her hands and said "Fréya, look at me." He waited until she looked him in the eye, her gaze falling before she lifted it again when he squeezed her hands gently.

"Fréya, this is not your fault. NONE of this…" he said, raising his voice slightly to stop her from interrupting "Is your fault. None of us were to know that Fíli would react like this to something I said, alright? If anything it's my fault. I put you in this position and unintentionally made you suffer for what's happened and for that I am truly sorry." Thorin closed his eyes and gave Fréya a small smile.

"As for you leaving I won't allow it. Mahal, I'd chain you to Fíli if that would get you to stay! He needs you, our whole family does. You are the only one who is not related in any way to me that I have complete and utter faith in to look after my nephew… nephews now I guess." Thorin said with a chuckle. He looked at Fréya, hoping he'd convinced her to stay and to stop blaming herself.

"What about Bofur?" Fréya asked quietly, a small smile on her lips.

"What do you… Oh" Thorin said, grinning at the dwarrowdam sitting before him. "Bofur and his family are essentially Fíli's honorary Uncles, so they don't count amongst trusted outsiders." If her wit was back then he knew he had gotten through to her. But he knew he needed to check.

"Please don't leave." He asked softly.

"I won't, I promise. After all with two kids you're going to need all the help you can get." She replied with a small smile and thinking to herself _It appears he does have a soft side after all. Huh._

Thorin opened his mouth to reply when a groan caused them both to look across the room towards the stirring elf.

"Well, let's go attend to our visitors, lest we face Dís's wrath." Thorin said, sounding more like himself and standing up to hold out a hand to Fréya.

"Yes, lets."

* * *

><p>Elrohir groaned and shakily lifted a hand to clutch at his head. The last time he'd felt this bad was when he agreed to take on his brother in a drinking match, not realising that Elladan was filling his own mugs with weak ale so he could get him back for the prank he'd pulled the week before that landed Elladan with kitchen duty for a week. It was safe to say that Elladan won, and he'd only found out a week later what his twin had done after having to clean all the hallways for a week after vomiting spectacularly all over his father and his right hand man.<p>

He could only liken the feeling to a horse stamping on his head, and only when he snapped his eyes open and tried to sit up did he allow himself to fall back down and close his eyes until the world stopped spinning. Elrohir noticed that there was moisture above his lip and used his hand that was still lying next to him to dab at it. He cracked an eye open and a finger appeared in his blurry vision; however there was no mistaking the glistening red that graced his finger. Now that he focused a bit he could feel the blood that trailed down his nose and around his jaw down to his neck. Clearly it hadn't stopped flowing since he'd passed out.

"Can you hear me?" A gruff voice asked; the light that was shining on him from the fire was now blocked due to whoever was standing next to him.

Elrohir turned his heard slightly towards the voice and rubbed at his eyes until his vision swam back into focus.

"Aye. Ow…" Was all he managed, massaging his temples gently in hopes to relieve some of the pressure.

"Good, it's about time." Thorin said gruffly, folding his arms over his chest to glare at the Elf that was moving slowly. Honestly, for immortal beings this elf was quite pathetic.

Elrohir clutched at his head gently and looked up at the dwarf accusingly, why did he have to yell at him? Couldn't the dwarf see he was in a bad way or were dwarves really as heartless as many believed?

"I would appreciate it if you refrained from yelling, as you're only making it worse. Now, where is my brother?"

Thorin arched an eyebrow at the elf. He'd barely raised his voice at the silly being, but clearly being immortal also meant being fragile in the head. What a surprise. He looked to the floor on the opposite side of the table, Elrohir turning slowly to follow his line of sight and spotted Elladan on the floor unmoving.

"El…" Elrohir whispered, hauling himself up to a kneeling position despite the waves of nausea still coursing through him and managed to half crawl, half drag himself around the table to his brothers' body.

Once he was kneeling at his head Elrohir placed his ear over his brothers' mouth, and placed a hand on the side of his face and focussed, trying to see if his brother was alive. There were unsteady exhales of breath causing Elrohir to sigh in relief before he shook his brother gently.

"El… El come on wake up."

Elladan gasped quietly before he began to drag in deep breathes, and let out a pained groan.

"Roh… what… are you alright?" Elladan asked, opening his eyes just a crack to look unseeingly at his brother in concern.

"I've been better but I'll live, better than I thought I would be actually. How are you feeling?" Elrohir said with a small chuckle whilst helping his brother sit up.

"I'm…" Elladan started, before he was overcome with a violent coughing fit. Elrohir looked on in horror as red began to paint his brothers lips and little droplets of blood flew from his mouth.

"You are not fine!" Elrohir whispered in horror, grabbing the cloth that Fréya handed him to wipe his brothers' mouth and rubbing a hand over his brothers back to try and soothe him.

Elladan looked at his brother guiltily once his coughing fit had subsided. "If our hands had been side by side rather than yours on top of mine, you'd be like me."

Elrohir looked at his brother in confusion before the meaning of his words struck him full force. "You took the brunt of the pain for me knowingly." He whispered, looking at his brother sadly.

"You're my little brother. I'll always protect you."

* * *

><p>Thorin watched the exchange between the two elves with disguised interest. Here were two creatures that he hated, probably on the same level as Orcs that were showing signs of humanity that he had long ago come to believe they didn't possess.<p>

One of them had sacrificed his own well-being to save his brother pain. He was still suffering but not as much as the older one it appeared.

Thorin shook his head before his interest became too much. They were still Elves, and they were still the ones responsible for taking Fíli and they WOULD pay for what they had done.

"Get them some water please." Thorin said, glancing at Fréya.

The dwarrow-dam nodded and moved to the pitcher of water that had been left in the room earlier leaving Thorin to glare at the Elves.

"If it were up to me…" Thorin began menacingly causing both Elves to look at him warily "I would have either ended you in your sleep, or dragged you like the animals you are and had you thrown from this town." He got some satisfaction from the way they both seemed to cower for a split second before regaining their composure.

"As it is, my sister, Fíli's mother, would like a word with you. I suggest you sort yourselves out before I lose the bare thread of control I am holding right now."

And with that Thorin turned on his heel and stormed out of the room.

Fréya watched Thorin leave the room in shock, surely he couldn't despise Fíli's healers that much, they had saved him after all.

She crouched down in front of them and saw them flinch slightly, whether their reaction was due to what Thorin had just said or her specifically she didn't know, but she wasn't bothered enough to find out.

She handed a cup to each Elf and gave them a small smile. "Drink, it'll help."

The Elves watched her for a moment before nodding and drinking quickly. The elf that had awoken first looked at her and asked in a quiet voice "was what he said due to us specifically or is he normally like that?"

Fréya smiled at them "probably both. But I wouldn't take Thorin's threats as being idle nor empty; he could do exactly what he said, and with the last couple of days we've had I'm sure he's looking for someone to take his frustrations out on. When you both are ready I will escort you to Dís's room. There are a few people who are interested in what you both have to say."

The Elves looked at each other with a quirked brow and the younger Elf helped his older brother to stand before looking back at her.

"Lead the way."

* * *

><p>Elrohir pulled his brother to his feet and they leant heavily on each other whilst their bodies screamed in protest at the movement. Not only had healing Fíli drained their energy, but it had also taken a huge physical toll on their bodies to the point where they felt sluggish and vulnerable. Elladan more so because he had ensured his hand was under his brothers, taking the bigger internal physical toll where it would take several days to heal, and letting his brother only suffer the flow on effects in the form of his energy being drained. It felt as if every muscle, no every <em>nerve<em> was on fire and having to move around after such a huge energy usage was akin to torture.

But they endured the pain. They both knew that the sooner they explained everything, the sooner that they'd be allowed to go to an inn for a few days and recuperate.

As they followed after the dwarrow-dam Elladan let out a chuckle which was followed by a string of hacking coughs bringing blood to his lips again. "I was just thinking Roh," Elladan started when he got himself back under control "We came here to meet Thorin Oakenshield to try and repair 'dwarven/Elven relations' only I think we may have caught him at a bad time."

Elrohir grinned at his brother "Perhaps we should come back later when he's not ready to strangle us." The elves grinned at each other and looked at the dwarrow-dam in front of them who started chuckling.

"Can we pause for a moment?" Elladan asked, sagging against the wall trying to catch his breath. Truly, he had been weakened more than he anticipated, and looking at his brother made him realise Elrohir wasn't fairing much better.

The dwarrow-dam ahead of them nodded and waited patiently for them to continue.

"I've just realised milady that we are yet to learn of your names." Elladan said gently, rolling his head to the side so he could focus on the dwarf near him.

She arched an eyebrow at him. "Perhaps, you are oblivious to my name as I am yet to reveal it to you, master Elves. Pray do tell what your names are and perhaps I shall reveal mine." Talking mysteriously was something Fréya enjoyed doing to confuse people she was talking to, and these elves seemed to be no exception, although she realised she was probably being a bit unfair as they had just gone through a great deal.

Elladan and Elrohir looked at each other and grinned. "You have a very eloquent tongue milady, surely you have talked your way out of many a situation and into many a heart." Elrohir said, causing a blush to stain the cheeks of their new friend.

"Yet you are correct…" Elladan continued with a smile "I am Elladan, this is my twin and younger brother Elrohir, we are the sons of the Lord Elrond of Rivendell, and representatives of matters concerning the Last Homely House, and we are at your service." The elves managed to stand tall next to each other and bow in unison, before collapsing slightly back against the walls until their heads stopped spinning.

"Sons of the Elven Lord!" Fréya exclaimed in shock. She knew all about Rivendell, and about the Lord who lived there, but to receive both his sons and for them to suffer cruel judgement on what had happened seemed very unfair now that she thought about it. She collected her thoughts before smiling to the pair of them.

"I am Fréya, neighbour to Thorin Oakenshield, Dís and her family, and Fíli's caregiver when it is required of me, and I too, am at your service." She replied, returning their bow.

Elladan and Elrohir looked at Fréya in surprise. "Ah, so you're the one Fíli was talking about when we met him!"

Fréya frowned as she had no clue as to what they were referring, but before she could ask Thorin, followed by Balin, Dwalin, Bofur, Bifur, Gloin and Oin appeared in the hallway heading to Dís's room. All the dwarves scowled at the elves as they walked past, Thorin standing aside one Dís's door was open to look back at the elves.

"Whenever you're ready." He said venomously before disappearing in the room.

Elladan and Elrohir looked at each other with a sigh and pushed off from the wall, struggling after the dwarves, and Fréya following close behind.

It was time for some answers.


	14. Home Is Where Our Love Is

**A/N: Hello again everybody! I'm SOOOO sorry it's taken this long! I kept to the week as promised, the month long week -.- I've been working on this non-stop at work as I'm in the tourism industry, and where I am if there's no one around (most of the time during term time) then I have literally nothing to do. Hence why this chapter was actually 10k+ words so far and yet to be completed, so I've split it into two giving you an extra nice long one to apologise for the wait. :) Unfortunately for me I may have started on two new stories with a third looking to worm its way into the line up hence the other delays! I also apologise if anyone feels it drags out a bit, I did try and shorten it but I couldn't decide on what to cut O.o**

**Just wanted to say welcome to the new followers/favouriters: Nicci1234, kassiopeia, Death to Elves, and once again thank you to everyone else who has stuck with me!**

**As much as it breaks my heart I do not own the writings or the characters of The Hobbit or Lord of the Rings, they are the wonderful and exclusive workings of J.R.R Tolkien**

* * *

><p>Dís sat patiently in her bed. Kíli was fast asleep in his cot after being fed and she doubted he'd wake anytime soon, although she had threatened the other dwarves who were now in her room that if he woke due to them being unable to keep their tempers and their voices quiet, she'd show them just how painful giving birth to a child could be.<p>

And it was safe to say they understood her message perfectly.

She sat there waiting for the two elves to enter the room, she was finally going to get the answers she had so desperately wanted since she had found out Fíli had been injured. A slight shuffling had her looking towards the door as the elves entered the room, Fréya behind them carrying two chairs she'd picked up from the hallway. Fréya moved past the elves and set the chairs down near the fireplace, motioning for the elves to take a seat.

The elves looked at each other hesitantly so Fréya spoke up.

"You are both still weak from healing Fíli, so sit, please. We want to hear what happened and I'm sure we would all prefer you not collapsing part way through a story." She said gently.

The elves still looked somewhat unsure, but when Dís gave them a simple "Please" they nodded and moved to the chairs, groaning when they sat down and their bodies were able to relax slightly.

There was silence in the room except for the sounds of breathing, so Dís took it upon herself to break the silence and the tension, shifting in her bed so she could face them.

"I am Dís, daughter of Thrain, son of Thror, sister to Thorin Oakenshield, heir to the line of Durin, but more importantly mother to Fíli and Kíli, and I am forever in your debt for saving my son." Dís dipped her head towards the elves in thanks. She had blatantly ignored the sharp intake of breath from Thorin who had sat on the bed next to her, because she knew he would be less than thrilled about her placing herself in their debt.

"Lady Dís, it is an honour. I am Elladan and this is my twin and younger brother Elrohir, we are the sons of the Lord Elrond of Rivendell, and representatives of matters concerning the Last Homely House, and we are at your service." Both elves tilted their heads to Dís in unison.

"Thank you, and I am at yours. In order to avoid any awkwardness between us all, this here is Thorin, my brother, this is Balin, Thorin's advisor and Balin's brother Dwalin, our warmaster. That is our healer Oin, and his brother Gloin, and Bofur and his cousin Bifur." Dís said pointing out each dwarf as she introduced them. She knew that by giving names to the faces of the Dwarves in the room it would likely lessen the tension for the Elves if they had to address any of the males in the room who were about ready to snap.

Elladan and Elrohir dipped their heads to each dwarf as they were introduced.

"It is a pleasure to meet you all again, however I wish our first meeting had been under uh… better circumstances." Elladan said sincerely.

"Well perhaps…" Thorin growled, mindful of the sleeping baby near him "You would care to share how my nephew came to be in his current predicament. No doubt by fault of your own."

"Thorin! Watch your tone or Mahal help me you won't be walking properly for a week!" Dís hissed at her brother.

Thorin glared at his sister before focussing back on the elves that seemed to be amused by her outburst. Thorin knew it wasn't their fault for Fíli running off, that had been his own, but the moment Fíli met the elves and everything after Thorin was determined to pin on them.

Elladan and Elrohir looked at each other in amusement before turning back to the dwarves.

"Alright…" Elladan began "We will tell you everything we know…"

"And what Fíli has told us, but most importantly as to how you can help him." Elrohir finished for his brother.

The two brothers told the gathered dwarves their story of meeting the devastated young dwarfling, about healing his cuts and scrapes and him eventually breaking down when asked about his family and telling them that he was no longer wanted. They told them about finding out about Drégo's story to Fíli about siblings, and Fíli's desire to go with the elves to become their brother. They spoke about how they took him back to the town to try and see if someone would recognise him only for them to spend all day in the tavern sharing stories with Fíli. They explained how they left for their campsite when they realised not only had they spent most of the day indoors, but they were likely going to have to face the storm that was currently still raging outside if they didn't go to collect their belongings.

It was on the field, the elves explained, that they discovered the patrol of Orcs nearby, and how they had been planning on getting Fíli out of there immediately, but that the Orcs were closer and a larger pack than they had anticipated so they had had no choice but to fight, and how they'd tried to do everything to protect the dwarfling they had become so fond of.

"What it comes down to is that Fíli left because he thought he was being replaced. He may no longer feel that way about his new brother but we believe he still thinks he's unloved by his family. We did our best to explain that it wasn't the case, but we're not the ones who should be trying to convince him of that." Elrohir concluded quietly.

The silence was heavy in the room, only the occasional crackle of burning wood could be heard. The dwarves in the room sat there speechless, their mouths gaping and devastation clear in their eyes. Fíli had left them not just because of a broken promise, but because of the belief that they were disgusted in him, that they wanted to _replace_ him!

"To think we had been so close to finding him!" Balin breathed, smacking his hand into his knee. If only he and Dwalin had gone into that inn after all then all of this would have been avoided!

"My poor baby…" Dís whimpered, tears streaming down her face and a hand pressed to her mouth.

Thorin turned so he could hug his sister to him and try to control his own emotions. After several minutes of trying, _really trying_ to get his breathing under control he looked his sister in the eye and promised "I will be finding that boy and his family and teaching them not to mess with my family. I do not understand what it is we've supposedly done, but I will not let this rest."

Dwalin, Bifur and Gloin all growled their agreement.

Dís nodded before she turned and pulled away her blankets. She stood, after having to wave Thorin away, and headed over to the elves, who were now looking well and truly exhausted.

She placed a hand on each of their shoulders and looked at the pair of them. "Thank you, for not only saving my son but also looking out for him where we clearly did not." And to everyone's surprise, including the elves, she cupped their faces and pressed a kiss to their foreheads.

After a moments' pause to register exactly what had happened, they place a hand on the one that cupped their face and smiled gently at her.

"Everything we did, we would do again. Fíli has worked his way into our hearts and letting him go will be difficult. We have come to love him greatly." Elrohir said softly.

"Well everything except taking him back to the field." Elladan said with a soft smile.

Dís laughed quietly and patted their faces before returning to her bed, not failing to notice the look Thorin had on his face, which appeared to be a mix between disgust, shock and perhaps a tinge of admiration, Dís thought. Of course, she wasn't exactly going to be discussing his looks with him any time soon, she'd need an ale for that.

"So Elladan, Elrohir…" Balin spoke up as Dís made herself comfortable in her bed once again, "What would your suggestion be as to how we approach this next? When Fíli wakes up I mean."

Elladan and Elrohir looked at each other, communicating mentally, and after several moments Elladan spoke up.

"Well Master Balin, as we said it is best that you, or specifically Master Thorin, explain to him what he means to you all."

"The reason we say Master Thorin should be the one to talk to him is because it was his promise to pick him up that was broken." Elrohir continued.

"However…" Elladan said looking apologetically at Thorin and Dís "When he first wakes up I think it would be best for Elrohir and I to talk to him first."

"Not a chance!" Thorin said angrily, only to rub his arm when Dís whacked him painfully.

"Thorin Oakenshield, he may be your nephew but he is my son. The only person who has the right to make that decision is me." Dís turned to the two elves. "I mean no offence, but what makes you certain this is the best idea?"

Elladan scrubbed his face so with some reluctance Elrohir took it upon himself to speak up. "My lady, there is no gentle way of saying this to any of you so please, we beg of you to not get too offended. It is most likely the best course of action to take as Fíli… well Fíli trusts us. We found him when he had been lied to and had the lie confirmed in his mind. He believes us to be his brothers as we think he is basing the word brother on those who would protect him and care for him even unto death. Fíli saw us fighting to save him, so in his mind he would most likely now view us as his guardians and protectors over you all. We just need time with him when he's conscious to remind him that you are his family and what he means to you all, before any of you speak to him."

Elrohir looked at Dís apologetically, but to his relief saw her nodding thoughtfully. Less to his relief was Thorin's thunderous expression. Perhaps for the time being it would be best to avoid Thorin until Fíli was conscious.

Several minutes passed whilst the dwarves and two elves waited for Dís to make a decision on their next move, Elladan and Elrohir beginning to doze in their chairs as their bodies were still incredibly weak.

Eventually Dís looked at them "You're right," She said finally "I may not like it, but you're right. If you talking to him first and convincing him that we want him home is the best thing to do then you do it. I just want my baby back." She said, a sob breaking through at the end.

The twins nodded in reply, their bodies and minds now too exhausted to do much else.

Thorin wrapped his sister in a hug "We'll get him back Dís, don't worry." He whispered in her ear.

"Right then" Said Oin, clapping his hands together quietly, less he wake Kíli and entice Dís' wrath. "Fíli won't wake for a while; I gave him some sleeping draught not too long after Thorin settled him into his bed as the pain had woken him briefly. I gave him some of the strong stuff and will continue to do so as needed, that boy needs rest and lots of it. For now, that storm is still raging outside and we all need to rest, some more than others," He paused briefly to look at Dís and the elves.

"There are plenty of beds here, so I suggest unless you need to get home urgently for whatever reason, you find a room and make yourselves comfortable. Elladan, Elrohir, up you two get. We've got a couple of human sized beds in one room that have been prepared for you."

When there was no response from the elves Oin stood and walked over to the pair, shaking their shoulders gently. "Come on lads, you did a brave thing saving our Fíli, now you two need to rest and let your bodies recover. I might be a dwarf who is meant to hate elves, but I'm a healer first and foremost, and looking after the injured will always be priority over animosity any day."

This last part he said looking over his shoulder pointedly at Thorin, practically daring him to say anything different and with the help of Fréya, got the elves slowly to their feet.

"You know," Said Bofur with a small smile at Dís, "not only did we manage to have a conversation with Elves without everything blowing up in our faces, but we managed to keep it quiet and civil enough that Kíli stayed asleep."

Dís was about to nod in agreement that all had ended well when there was an almighty crash, causing them all to look towards the fireplace in shock.

Dwalin had stood from his chair as the elves moved towards him to put as much distance between himself and them, only to step back and catch the seat of his chair with his legs, which in turn snagged against a hole in the floor sending dwarf and chair tumbling back and to the side into the metal fire rack, sending the poker and bellows clattering across the floor.

There was utter silence in the room, everyone looking at the cot with wide eyes. A whimper was heard, which was followed quickly by a high-pitched cry from a now awake and very grumpy baby.

"DWALIN!"

* * *

><p>The rest of the day passed in a blur. The elves had practically collapsed when they were given their beds and slept soundly until the next day. Thorin envied them, all he wanted was to climb into bed and try to forget the guilt he'd suffered through the night.<p>

"You really should thank them Thorin." Balin said as they waited for the stable hands to return from the Elves rooms, leaving their packs inside their door.

"Why?"

"Because they saved Fíli, we would have lost him if they hadn't stayed behind and barged in, all against your orders. You owe them and you know it."

The others had returned to their homes once the storm had lessened early the next morning, all well rested but very hungry as the Healing House didn't have much aside from broth, which was generally the only food patients were able to eat whilst on the mend there. Thorin had gone back home to throw some of Dís' and Fíli's clothing into a bag and got Fréya to help him carry some of the prepared food Dís had left for them over to the Healing House, handing her a large platter of Dís' baked goods in thanks.

He planned on returning home to sleep, unfortunately for him it seemed as if fate was working against him as the moment he stepped out of the Healing House a city guard found him to take him to see where the Orcs had been camping. According to the guard there had been at least another 10 Orcs there and all had been captured and were awaiting interrogation at the site. Several hours and 10 dead orcs later Thorin arrived back into the town, only to come face to face with a tired and irritated Balin who informed him that the envoys from the Iron Hills had arrived a week early and were demanding an audience pronto. That took up most of the afternoon for Thorin who by the end was ready to bash the envoys heads together because both had separate political opinions and neither could agree on the terms Thorin had given them. Before he could act on his decision however the council room door flew open and a guard rushed in to inform Thorin there had been an explosion and full scale fire at the forge in the Human part of town. Ignoring his weary bones and pounding headache Thorin dismissed the envoys none too gently and raced after the guard. The firefighting effort lasted well towards the evening and by the time the fire was extinguished the Forge and several stables were nothing but rubble and ash, but thankfully no one had died or was too badly hurt.

Early evening found Thorin (who had given up on trying to sleep and was now valiantly trying to keep himself awake), Oin, Balin and Dwalin sitting in Dís's room talking amongst themselves as to the events leading up to their current situation, Dís busy snuggling against Thorin's side with Kíli in her arms, stroking his head gently whilst he slept.

Oin was busy describing Fíli's injury and how well it seemed to be healing when the door opened and a healer stuck her head in. "Master Oin, the elves are awake and would like to know if they can join you."

Oin looked to Thorin and Dís; Dís nodding immediately followed by Thorin's resigned one.

"Show them in, and bring some chairs for them." Oin said. The healer titled her head and disappeared, returning several minutes later with two chairs and two surprisingly dishevelled looking elves. She sat the chairs by the window and motioned for the elves to sit, not leaving until they were settled.

"How are you feeling?" Dís asked kindly. Her eyes had widened when they entered the room, they looked nothing like the pristine elves that she had first laid eyes on when she stormed past them yesterday. Now the exhaustion they had suffered when saving her son showed up clearly. Both had dark circles under their eyes, their hair was mussed and they were both pale, despite the solid day sleep they'd had.

"Sore, tired and hungry, Lady Dís." Elladan replied with a small smile.

"Well, all of that is easily fixable. Thorin and Dwalin can escort you both to the inn where you can purchase a room with more comfortable beds, a bath and some food." Dís said with a smile. "No doubt food and a wash would be welcome for you both."

"You know El, I do believe that was a polite way of telling you you smell." Elrohir said with a tired grin, nudging his brother with his elbow gently being mindful of their sore muscles.

Dís looked mortified that they thought that was what she was implying, only to start laughing when she saw the tired smiles on both their faces.

"You Roh, are no better, you smell like you slept in a stable for a week!"

Despite themselves, all the dwarves started laughing at the Elves antics, including Thorin.

Elrohir rolled his eyes before facing Thorin and Dís. "Has Fíli shown any sign of waking yet?"

Oin shook his head, answering for Thorin. "Not yet, I gave him a sleeping draught whilst you both slept. I didn't want the lad lying there not being able to talk to anybody because you want to be the first ones to speak to him, but also because the sleep is doing his injury a world of good. You healed him from the worst of it, but I still had to put in some stitches to hold the wound together, it wasn't too deep by the time you collapsed, but it was still bleeding pretty bad and I wanted to be safe. Whilst he's sleeping he's not trying to move to find anybody, so his stitches aren't at risk of tearing."

Elladan and Elrohir nodded at this information. "Well then," Elladan said speaking up "If you don't mind we'd appreciate you keeping Fíli asleep for another day. It'll allow us to have a meal, sleep a bit more and freshen up, that way he'll be more likely to respond to the two elves he got to know, not the two elves that look like they've been dragged across the ground backwards by a horse. He'll most likely be confused after being asleep for so long, no need to add to that confusion."

Oin nodded, taking over the conversation and forgetting that both Thorin and Dís were in the room. "I agree, it'll give him an extra day to heal and rest, and we need you both to be on your toes and prepared for anything that could happen."

Thorin sighed, accepting Oin's decision. Tomorrow, tomorrow they'd get answers and tomorrow he WOULD get his nephew back.

* * *

><p>Dwalin, Balin and, with much reluctance, Thorin escorted Elladan and Elrohir to The Lone Warrior where they were given free rooms and meals, by much insistence on Balin's part. They left the elves to themselves for the night, the elves promising to be along at sunrise the next day. Bofur greeted the three dwarves as they exited the tavern, carrying a parcel and handing it over.<p>

"Bifur told me I'd find you here. When the lad wakes, can you give him this? He painted it the other day. Remind him that he chose to paint it with the colours that reminded him of his family, because he loves you as much as you love him."

Thorin nodded, thanking the toy maker and taking the package, handling it as though it was made of glass. He returned to the Healing House to be with Dís and Kíli, the lack of sleep from the last few days due to all the excitement had worn him down immensely was clearly showing and he was struggling to stay awake when Dís all but ordered him home, threats of tying him up and dragging him there herself if he didn't leave in the next ten seconds following him out the door as he bid a hasty goodbye.

* * *

><p>Thorin woke to the sound of knocking at the front door; he rubbed at his eyes and staggered out of his room half asleep. He opened the door only to find himself face to face with Dwalin and Balin, the sun shining in his eyes making him squint.<p>

"There you are! Dís said she hadn't seen you since she sent you home yesterday." Balin looked him over with a smile. "You look awful." He added cheerfully.

"He looks like he's slept over 12 hours is what he looks like" Thorin heard Dwalin say matter-of-factly as he peered at what he now realised to be the mid-day sun in surprise, shocked that he'd been asleep since early evening yesterday.

"Well it explains why I feel the need to eat a deer." He said rubbing his now vocal stomach absentmindedly.

Dwalin and Balin chuckled. "Go get changed, there's food for you in Dís' room."

Thorin went and got changed and met the two several minutes later. "Have the elves turned up yet?" Thorin asked as they made their way to the Healing House.

"Elladan and Elrohir arrived not long ago, they're the reason we came to get you, said they weren't going to do anything until you arrived." Balin said.

Thorin was shocked. "That… well that was kind of them." He said, surprised at the consideration they were showing towards him especially after the way he'd been treating them.

"Wasn't it just?" Balin said pointedly, not needing to look to know exactly what his friend was thinking.

After a brisk walk the three arrived back at the Healing House and headed straight for Dís' room. Upon entering they found Elladan and Elrohir telling Dís a story, which had her clutching at her sides trying to breathe through her laughter.

"We learnt where some of the best hiding places in Rivendell were pretty quickly that afternoon I assure you." Elladan said grinning.

"That and if you're going to put honey on your fathers hairbrush to make sure either you seem uninterested about what your fathers doing, or ensure you are well away from his chambers to give you a head start." Elrohir sniggered, elbowing his brother gently.

"And here we all thought elves were incapable of having fun" Dís gasped, wiping away the tears rolling down her face. "Oh Mahal help me, I know for a fact that Thorin, Frerin and I weren't that bad, then again there was a large age gap between us."

"Well we were hoping to make a point," Elladan started, trying to contain his grin but failing spectacularly.

"What? As my boys grow up ensure my honey pot has a lock on it and my hairbrushes are hidden?"

"Well yes, if you don't want to spend an hour trying to get it all out, but the main point was that most dwarves leave large gaps between having children, and because Elladan and I are twins we can relate with Fíli about having a sibling so close to our own age. Granted we're twins so it's slightly different, but we're more likely to have more common ground with him than anyone in this room."

Dís nodded and looked up in surprise when Thorin sat on her bed. "There you are! I was beginning to think something had happened. Very rarely does the great Thorin Oakenshield not only do as he's told, but stays there longer than instructed." There was mischief in her eyes as she spoke.

Thorin responded in a very unkingly manner by sticking his tongue out at her.

Dís was about to shove Thorin off the bed when Oin knocked on the door and poked his head through. "Ah there you are Thorin, you have impeccable timing. Elladan, Elrohir, Fíli's beginning to stir; he should be awake in a few minutes.

Elladan and Elrohir nodded and looked to the others in the room. "There is no need for any of you to be anxious. He's upset but he does love you, he just needs to be reminded of that. Thorin perhaps it would be best to wait outside his room so you can go straight in when we call you."

Thorin nodded, his throat suddenly going dry. He wasn't sure if he could respond right then, too many thoughts and fears flying around his brain making his head spin, but he stood and followed the twins out of the room after giving Dís a squeeze on the shoulder.

Outside of Fíli's room Elladan motioned to a chair "take a seat and regain your thoughts Thorin, all will be fine. Wait for us to call you."

Thorin nodded and sat down, watching as the elves entered the room.

* * *

><p>Elladan and Elrohir entered the room and headed straight for the bed. There was a chair on the left hand side that Elladan took, whilst Elrohir climbed onto the foot of the bed and sat cross legged. Elladan looked at his brother with a raised brow.<p>

"Well I'm not standing." Elrohir huffed.

Elladan rolled his eyes when their attention suddenly switched to Fíli who let out a whimper. "Fíli, can you hear me? Open your eyes." He said gently. He held Fíli's hand and gave it a gentle squeeze, trying to encourage the dwarfling to respond.

After several moments a light squeeze was given to Elladans' hand. Elrohir noticed and grinned at his brother.

"Good boy Fíli, very good. Can you open your eyes for us?" Elrohir encouraged softly.

They watched as Fíli eyes cracked open slowly, before he turned his head towards them weakly raising a hand to rub at his eyes.

"There you are, welcome back." Elladan said with a smile at the dwarfling who was slowly looking more coherent.

"El..." Fíli started before coughing, whimpering at the pain he felt in his chest.

Elrohir slipped off the bed and poured a cup of water from the pitcher on the bedside table and with Elladans' help the pair got Fíli sitting up with pillows piled behind him so he could rest comfortably whilst drinking.

Fíli was still too weak and exhausted to hold the cup, so Elladan held the cup to his lips and slowly he drained the cup.

"How are you feeling mellon?" Elrohir asked as Elladan returned the cup and sat back down.

"Hurts" Fíli whimpered, his bottom lip trembling slightly and looking for all the world the little lost dwarfling he was.

"We'll see if Oin can get you something for the pain Fíli, but you mustn't move too much, you'll only make it worse."

Fíli nodded before looking scared "Oin?" He asked looking at the two elves fearfully.

"Yes Fíli, Oin."

"But he... He'll call Unca Thowin! I don wanna go back! I wanna go with you!" He cried hysterically.

"Shh Fíli, shh. You're ok, no one's going to make you do anything you don't want to do ok?" Elrohir said soothingly from the end of the bed.

"I don wanna be unwoved! I don wanna be forgotten!" He sobbed into Elrohir's shoulder when the elf shifted up the bed to sit beside him. Elrohir wrapped an arm around Fíli gently until he quietened, he and his brother murmuring nonsense soothingly to help settle him. Fíli whimpered and clutched at his chest above the wound. When he felt the bandage he sniffled and looked at the elves in confusion.

Elladan and Elrohir frowned at each other before looking back at Fíli.

"Fíli, what do you remember?" Elrohir asked slowly.

Fíli looked at them confused "you were tewing me stories." He said, looking worriedly at the twins.

"Are you hungry?" Elladan asked suddenly, "I'll see if I can get you some food."

Fíli nodded still confused but Elladan stood and hurried out of the room, promising to bring food and something to help with the pain.

Elladan shut the door behind him and came face to face with Thorin who looked devastated after hearing Fíli say he didn't want to go back.

"Come with me" Elladan said urgently, heading for Dís' room and not bothering to wait for a reply.

Elladan walked in a sighed in relief upon spotting Oin chatting to Dís as he checked up on Kíli. "Oin I'm glad you're here. We need to talk."

Everyone looked at Elladan in concern. "Is Fíli alright?" Dis whispered.

"He's fine, considering the circumstances, he's awake and talking. Something to take the pain away wouldn't hurt though; he's feeling it pretty bad. I've come to tell you there's been a...development I guess, and I'm not sure how you'd want me to proceed."

"Go on" Oin said, ever the professional.

"It seems he has amnesia, whether it's only temporary or not remains to be seen as he doesn't remember getting hurt, in fact the last thing he remembers is us in the tavern telling him stories that occurred several hours before the attack."

"You want to know whether it would be a good idea or not to remind him about what happened." Oin said, sensing the elf's dilemma.

Elladan nodded "personally, I believe he's far too young to remember let alone experience what he went through, it's enough to give fully grown men night terrors. We could tell him something else for the time being which would allow him to heal without fear, however if he starts remembering he's going to ask why he was lied to and that will undoubtedly bring you back to the same situation to what he left. Ultimately the call is yours, and whilst you think on it I need to get back. If we could get some broth or something sent for him would be great, poor thing is half starved. Just have whoever is taking it knock on the door, it's best if they don't enter." He gave the dwarves a slight bow before hurrying back to Fíli, hearing Thorin follow him back.

"Sorry little one, I was just trying to find you some broth to help get your appetite back, you've been asleep a while so you must be hungry." Elladan said as he slipped back in the room, shutting the door behind him and keeping Thorin hidden.

The twins grinned when Fíli's stomach grumbled loudly in agreement, and Fíli looked embarrassed. "Once I'm all betta, we going home?" Fíli asked once his stomach had said its piece.

Elrohir held Fíli's hand. "Elladan and I will be going back to Rivendell, but you Fíli, you're already home. Ah!" He said, placing a finger across Fíli's lips "You've had your entire family and all your friends frantic with worry over where you got to, they were terrified that you'd disappeared on them. We got to meet your ma and your Uncle who you've really given a fright. They don't want you to leave mellon, they never wanted that."

"If they didn wan me to weave, why did Unca break his pwomise?" Fíli sniffled.

Elladan sighed and looked Fíli in the eye. "Sometimes adults have no choice but to break their promise. When we were younger our father promised to take us to an apple tree not too far from home, it had some of the most delicious apples I've ever eaten. When we got there Ada noticed a weed growing around the base of the tree and pulled us both away, telling us it was time to leave. We argued that he'd promised us that we could have one, and that we could bring some home. He agreed that he'd promised, but now had to break that promise. He pulled an apple off and took us to a nearby rock. When we got there he cut it open. Now on the outside it looked fine, but on the inside it had black lines running through it. He wrapped it in some cloth and ran it over the grass, which died instantly. The weed that was near the tree was poisonous to anything living. Ada said if he had kept his promise, we would have been very sick and could have died, but because he broke it he kept us safe." Elladan looked at Fíli whose face was pinched in thought. "Fíli, just because your Uncle broke his promise doesn't mean he doesn't love you. It's important for you to always try and keep your promises, but sometimes even the best people can't do it."

"So... Unca was twying to protect me when he didn't pick me up?" Fíli asked with a frown.

Elrohir shook his head. "Breaking promises isn't always just to protect someone. Sometimes it's because someone else needs their help or they get delayed by something they have no control over. This time I think your uncle needed to help your ma."

Fíli looked at the elves stricken "why would mama need hewp?! Is mama ok?"

"Well I'm pretty sure your Uncle needed to help your ma bring your sibling into the world." Elladan said with a smile.

"Mama had the baby?" Fíli asked looking scared.

"She did, you're a big brother now Fíli, just like me." Elladan said with a smile.

"But I'm not wike you, I dunno how to be a big bwover. What if I'm bad at it?"

"Do you remember what I told you about Elrohir? About what he is to me?" At Fíli's nod Elladan continued. "Well it'll be the same for you. To be a brother is to be a protector Fíli, and being a brother works both ways. He will become your best friend and closest ally, your partner in crime. The one who will follow you to the ends of the earth to be just like you, and the one you will have to constantly keep out of trouble. He will be the one to find you when you are lost, and he will be the one to remind you who you are when you have forgotten. Being a brother is one of the greatest gifts you could ever have and you will never regret it."

"But Drégo said..."

"Drégo is a human boy who is jealous of the gift your ma gave you. She has so much love for you that she wanted to give you something more precious than any jewel. He lied, Fíli, because he wants something he doesn't have." Elrohir said firmly. He knew he was lying slightly, he didn't know the first thing about Drégo or why he lied, but seeing the change in Fíli's eyes made it worth it.

"They weally do wove me?" He asked his voice full of hope.

Elladan stood and moved to the door. "They do Fíli, and now I think it's time they told you themselves." He opened it and tilted his head slightly to Thorin who walked carefully into the room.

"We'll leave you to it" Elrohir said softly before he and his brother left, shutting the door to give them privacy.

Thorin moved carefully to the bed and placed the broth and tea laced with medicine on the table. He watched Fíli's reaction as he sat down on the edge of the bed and noticed he looked suddenly nervous.

"Unca..." Fíli started hesitantly, reaching out a small hand slightly.

Thorin let out a sob and wrapped his arms around his nephew, drawing him onto his lap gently as he buried his face in the golden hair. "Oh Fíli, my little lion I thought I'd lost you! I was so scared." He whispered, elated at the feeling of Fíli grabbing onto his tunic and gripping tightly.

"M'sowwy unca. I'm so sowwy!" Fíli sobbed into his Uncle's shirt, tears falling steadily.

Thorin held Fíli tightly for several long moments, rocking his nephew slightly to soothe him whilst he was pressing kisses into the golden hair. Eventually Fíli's cries turned into sniffles and Thorin ran a hand over his hair before pulling away to look at his nephew.

"Oh my child," he said as he used his thumbs to wipe away the tears "I'm so sorry for everything. I should have picked you up as I promised but your ma needed me. I should have had Fréya tell you you were going to meet your brother but I wanted it to be a surprise."

"I have a bwother?" Fíli asked as he settled himself in Thorin's lap and cuddled into his side, running his hand over Thorin's braids.

"You do, his names Kíli."

"That's like my name!" Fíli said turning bright blue eyes on him in shock.

"It is my lion; we named him after you and your pa, two dwarves we love very much."

Fíli couldn't help the smile that crept across his face as he thought about how he and his brother had similar names. He raised his arm to pet at Thorin's beard, only to strain his wound causing him to gasp and clutch at his chest in shock, only just remembering he had been hurt.

Thorin looked at Fíli in concern before understanding what the gasp was about. "Here," he said leaning over and grabbing the tea "Oin says you need to drink it to help take away the pain."

Fíli looked at the tea and sniffed it, wrinkling his nose and turning his head. "No" he said stubbornly.

Thorin rolled his eyes, used to his nephews' stubbornness but he knew not to back down. "Come on, do it for me and your ma and Kíli. We all want you to get better, but we don't want you to be in pain."

"Did I fall over?" Fíli asked changing the subject.

Thorin grinned inwardly with his nephews' tactfulness, deciding for the time being to leave it alone as this was an important question and needed to be handled carefully. Whilst the twins had been with Fíli he'd thought long and hard about what to tell him. He eventually settled on telling him the truth, knowing if he were to lie only to have him start remembering again Fíli might never forgive him.

"No little one you didn't. When the elves -"

"Ewadan and elwohir!" Fíli said indignantly

"Sorry. When Elladan and Elrohir took you from the tavern after telling you stories they took you to your campsite on the field outside of town, do you remember?"

Fíli frowned and shook his head so Thorin continued.

"Well they took you to the field where you were camping because there was a storm moving in and they wanted to get their packs. When you got there, there were orcs nearby."

Fíli gasped. He remembered what orcs were, they were the ones who had taken his pa away. He blinked as fuzzy images flashed through his mind: of Elrohir putting on his sword, rain and thunder, something moving in front of the trees.

Thorin continued quietly, watching Fíli for any sign of distress. "They attacked you three, Elladan and Elrohir tried to hide you, protect you." Thorin licked his lips "an orc got too close before our guards could step in and cut you pretty bad." Ok slight lie, Thorin thought. It was probably best he didn't know he got shot or that he almost died, it was unlikely he'd remember getting shot anyway as he'd collapsed straight after he'd been hit. That part was something he could be told when he was older and was more likely to understand. Thorin hugged his nephew gently. "It knocked you out which is why you don't remember what happened. You were so brave facing them Fíli, and if you remember what happened over time I will be there to help you get through it ok?"

Fíli nodded, trying but failing to remember much more about what happened on the field, but all he could really focus on was the fear they would come back for him. A whimper escaped his lips as he thought about what could happen.

Thorin of course didn't miss it. "What's wrong little one?"

"What if they come back?" Fíli whispered fearfully, shivering despite the warmth in the room.

Thorin kissed Fíli's head. "They won't. Because when we went looking for you we found out about the orcs so we killed all of the ones on the field, and we sent out guards to see if there were anymore. We killed the other ones we found too. They won't be coming back. In a way you're a hero, you helped protect everyone in town, but more importantly you helped protect your ma and Kíli. That's why I know you'll be a good brother, because even when you were upset you protected him."

Thorin ruffled his hair before picking up the tea and handing it to him, earning a whine of protest. "Come on, you need this to help you heal and sleep. There's someone who'd like to meet you later but you need to be feeling better ok?"

Fíli whined again before taking the cup grudgingly. He drank it quickly, his face scrunching up like he'd just sucked a lemon at the taste. When Thorin was satisfied he swapped the cup with the bowl of broth, where Fíli took several small mouthfuls before turning away.

"Good boy. You need to get some sleep ok, and then you can meet Kíli." Thorin made to stand up but a small hand grabbing his made him pause and look at his nephew.

Fíli looked up at him miserably, hand still firmly holding Thorin's. "Pwease stay Unca..."he whispered.

Thorin was about to say he had to go talk to Dís when he stopped himself. The look on Fíli's face was so sad that he knew that Dís was not the one who needed him right now.

He scooped Fíli up gently before settling himself on the bed under the blankets, with Fíli leaning into his chest. He tucked the blanket around his nephew before wrapping an arm around him, hugging him to his chest unwilling to let him go.

"Go to sleep my little lion. I'll be here when you wake up."

Fíli sighed contently as he drifted off to sleep. "I wuves you Unca."

"I love you too Fíli, always."


	15. Until We Meet Again

**A/N: Hello again everyone! So here we are, the last chapter for the story! I know, sob! Believe me it's been SO hard trying to write this last chapter, it's the first story I've written and knowing it's coming to an end has made it a mission to try and complete but I've slogged through and done it! Hopefully it's up to standard for you all, I'm happy with it and I don't think there was any part that I'd be able to drag out even if I tried.**

**I'd like to say my final welcome to the new followers/favouriters: Warrior128, Uebungsdummy, Misterida.**

**And to everyone whose stuck with the story: Thank you guys! You are absolutely amazing! I love you all and all your reviews and feedback has made doing this absolutely worthwhile, especially having over 100 reviews and followers, you guys are awesome!**

**Don't think this is the last you've heard from me though. I'm also in the process of writing two new (with more to come) stories, one is an Almighty Johnsons/Being Human story called "In My Silence" which I am posting the first chapter now, and the second one is another Hobbit story with the lads older, and much more darkness surrounding it. So check both those out! But for the mean time I'll be taking some down time and playing Lego Hobbit :D which if you haven't played, get it! Its SO GOOD! :D**

**Love you all!**

**As much as it breaks my heart I do not own the writings or the characters of The Hobbit or Lord of the Rings, they are the wonderful and exclusive workings of J.R.R Tolkien**

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><p>"Thorin's taking a while isn't he?" Dís asked finally. Elladan and Elrohir had returned to her room some time ago, and whilst they told her they were sure Fíli no longer had any intention on following them to Rivendell and Thorin was now in there with him, she couldn't help that think something had gone wrong and Fíli was refusing to listen to reason.<p>

"I'm sure everything is fine. He knows how to handle the lad." Balin tried to soothe.

"I know I know... I just... Ah Mahal help me I'm going to check on them."

"Dís..." Balin groaned

"No Balin, I'm going to check on them and that's final. You can come with me if you like. Dwalin's definitely coming because I'm not leaving him here with Kíli whilst he's sleeping unless he wants an education in childcare." She said with finality ringing in her voice, and shooting Dwalin a look.

Dwalin raised his hands "I have no intention in looking after him whilst he's a newborn, I'll leave that to you." He said in his defence as he stood carefully and moved to the door.

Dwalin held the door open for Dís and Balin and together they headed for Fíli's room, leaving the twins momentarily with Kíli. Dís opened the door carefully and crept inside with the other two close behind. All three chuckled quietly when they spotted the pair in the bed. Fíli was fast asleep against Thorin's chest, a thumb in his mouth and his other hand curled tightly around Thorin's. Thorin himself was dozing, now waking when he heard them enter.

Dís moved to the side of the bed and placed a kiss on Fíli's forehead before planting one on Thorin's. "I was beginning to worry something had happened." She said quietly as she stroked Fíli's head.

Thorin laughed quietly, trying to avoid moving Fíli as much as possible. "He's ok, just tired and sore." He looked at Dís and felt a tear slip down his face. "He's back Dís, he's come home."

Dís felt her lip quiver. "You are the only one who would be able to convince him how much he means to us, you mean the world to him."

"You are the one who means the world to him Dís, and I know Kíli will become the centre of his world very quickly. No matter what he thinks of me I'm glad he wants me in his life, even as a pillow or a horse."

Thorin sighed as looked at the three dwarves. "I could kill for a book though. I promised him I'd be here when he woke up and have no intention of moving, but I'm not really tired at the moment and I'm starting to get bored."

Dís rolled her eyes and stepped back from the bed. "I'll send for one." She moved to the door quietly and Balin and Dwalin followed after giving Thorin a grin.

They waited until they were in Dís' room where the elves were talking quietly before saying anything.

"So any reason to stress?" Balin asked with a twinkle in his eye, well aware what the answer would be.

"Oh hush you. I'm allowed to worry." Dís responded, no bite in her tone.

"All is well then?" Elrohir asked from his seat, a smile on his face as he leaned against his brother. Both elves were sure they had convinced Fíli but felt they wanted to make sure.

"They're fine; Fíli's asleep again on Thorin's lap. Balin can you ask a healer to fetch him a book?" Dís answered, smiling at the elves. Once Balin left, who was followed by Dwalin who decided to get some sleep, she was finally able to talk to the elves privately. She sat on the bed and got herself comfortable before motioning for the two elves to join her. They eventually sat down, albeit hesitantly.

"Now that we are alone, I just wanted to say thank you. You saved Fíli's life, and in a way you saved my brother as well. If Fíli had died, Thorin would never have recovered from it. I'm am forever in your debt, and I don't know how I can repay you." She said, reaching forward and holding their hands gently.

"Lady Dís, you have a beautiful and loving boy who we were lucky to meet. We've been around a long time and met many a person, but very rarely do we find someone who becomes special to us. Even if we were to live for another thousand years, neither of us would forget him or your family as you have all made a home in our hearts." Elladan and Elrohir both squeezed Dís' hand gently as a stray tear tracked down her face.

"And you owe us nothing. He was a child who was lost and upset and just needed a friend. And we don't regret taking him in, he's become an honorary brother to us, and we wouldn't trade him for anything."

Dís smiled, tears now streaming from her eyes as she leaned forward and pressed a kiss to each of their foreheads. The twins for their part looked slightly embarrassed but they accepted Dís' thanks happily.

She took a deep breath to calm herself and wiped at her eyes. "If you don't mind my asking, why did you come to Ered Luin in the first place? I have to admit I'm curious as to what elves would find of interest here."

Elrohir snorted and Elladan shook his head in amusement. "Would you believe us," Elrohir said looking at his twin with a grin "if we said that our father sent us here to meet with Thorin to negotiate more freedom of movement for Rangers in these parts?"

Now it was Dís' turn to snort in amusement. "If I had met you before Fíli left, then I would've said you were most likely spies trying to cause chaos, now after everything that's happened I know you are telling the truth."

"Well as you can see our plans were delayed somewhat, but no matter. We're hoping to talk with him or perhaps one of his advisors before we leave. We need something politically positive to tell Ada."

"I can't speak for Thorin when it comes to political negotiations, but I will tell you that deep down you are now considered his allies. You protected his family which he values above all else, and he will listen to what you say, perhaps reluctantly as our people haven't had the greatest experience with elves." Dís said kindly, in an attempt to avoid offense.

Elladan smiled at her. "We are well aware of how Thorin views our kind, especially after what Thranduil did, it was always our hope to show Thorin that our father is not like him, and that we only want peace between us. The best we were hoping for was a meeting with one of his advisors to plead our case, hopefully we'll be able to talk to him about it better tomorrow or when Fíli's better. But for now seeing as all the excitement has died down we might go have a look around town. It's our first time here and we're curious as to what is offered."

"Well," Dís said as she scratched her chin in thought, "I'm not sure what you'd find here that would be of interest to you, but if you stop by the toyshop can you tell Bofur that Fíli woke and he's ok now?"

"It would be our pleasure. Rest well Lady Dís; and we shall see you this evening to check on Fíli before we turn in." Elrohir said, dipping his head before he and his brother stood and left the room.

* * *

><p>Sunset rolled around quickly, Elladan and Elrohir had been out all day browsing the town. They brought several knick knacks to take home with them, and brought two toys to give to Fíli and Kíli. Kíli was busy lying against Dís' chest with his new bear at his side, whilst Elladan and Elrohir told Dís, Balin and Dwalin some more stories about their upbringing at Dís insistence, her reason being she didn't see her brothers grow up and she wanted advanced warning of what to expect with two young children, however they all knew she secretly wanted to know more about them.<p>

There was a knock at the door before it opened and Thorin walked in. Dís looked at her brother and smiled. "So you managed to extract yourself from his grasp did you?" She asked jokingly.

Thorin rolled his eyes as he sat down on the bed and gently scratched Kíli's stomach. "He woke up complaining about being hungry, so I said I'd fetch some food for him, means I was able to relieve myself as well."

Dwalin snorted at that and Dís and Balin laughed.

Thorin shook his head exasperated. "He's been asking for you and Kíli too. He's excited to see you and finally meet his little brother."

Dís smiled as finally everything seemed to be getting back to normal. She handed Kíli to Thorin and put his bear in his cot. "We'll come get you four soon, but make yourselves comfortable in the meantime, Oin should be bringing some food in shortly."

She followed Thorin to Fíli's room, nervousness washing through her. What if Fíli blamed her for what happened? Or what if he changed his mind and wanted to leave again?

"Dís, relax. Everything will be fine, I think he just wants his ma to hug and kiss him and tell him everything's alright." Thorin said soothingly as he went to hand Kíli over.

Dís shook her head and wouldn't take Kíli. "No he needs to see me without Kíli first. Wait here until I call you and then you can hand him over once I'm sitting with him so we can introduce them, but not before."

Thorin looked confused by this but shrugged, children were not his area of expertise.

Dis opened the door to find Fíli leaning against some pillows, nibbling on a piece of bread. When he looked up and saw her his face lit up with a huge smile "Mama!" He cried joyfully.

"Hello sweetheart!" Dís said hurrying forwards to scoop her son up into her lap on the bed. She wrapped her arms around her eldest son and pressed kisses all over his face, causing him to giggle and squirm in her hold.

"Mama stop! Eww mama!" He said, breathless once he got free, only to face her and grab at her hair so he could do the same back for several moments before he wrapped his small arms around her and nuzzled into her neck.

Dís sighed and rocked the pair of them gently, stroking his hair contently. After several moments she moved her head so she could look at her son. "Oh my lion, you gave us such a fright. I was so scared I was going to lose you."

"I'm sowwy mama." Fíli said quietly, looking up at her from under his eyelashes.

She rubbed her nose against his before placing a kiss on it. "It's ok now Fíli, your home now and that's what matters." She hugged him tightly before looking at him again. "Would you like to meet your brother?"

Fíli suddenly looked nervous. He tilted his head forward so his hair covered his face. "What's wrong sweetheart?" DIs asked gently.

"What if I can't be a good bwother? I don't know what to do." Fíli mumbled from behind his curtain of hair.

"Oh my lion, it is something you will learn as you go. The only thing you have to remember is love him with all your heart, look after him and never be mean to him, and he will do the same in return. And we will be there to help you both out when you need it." Dís said softly, gently tucking Fíli's hair behind his ears with one hand and tilting his face up with her other.

Fíli nodded. "Ok mama."

Dís kissed his forehead before moving to the head of the bed. She got herself comfortable and patted next to her for Fíli to join her. He moved across, mindful of his wound that he'd managed to avoid aggravating so far and snuggled into her side. When he was comfortable she called out to Thorin to enter.

Thorin entered and smiled at the sight on the bed. He moved around to Dís' side and gently handed Kíli over. Dis kissed Kíli's head before looking at Fíli with a smile. "This is Kíli, you're baby brother."

Thorin and Dís watched with fondness as Fíli''s eyes widened in awe, taking in Kíli's tiny face as they stared at each other. He lifted a hand and gently touched Kíli's forehead, running his fingers through the chocolate wisps on his head. Fíli looked up at the adults, awe and love on his face. "Can I hold him mama?" He whispered looking back to his brother, determined to memorise everything.

With Thorin's help Dís placed Kíli in Fíli's arms. Both boys stared at each other until Fíli broke the silence. "Hi Kíli, I'm Fíli and I'm your big bwother." He kissed Kíli on the nose, just like his mama did to him, and gasped before giggling when Kíli's tiny fingers latched onto a stray lock of hair.

Dis and Thorin watched with amusement as Fíli made cooing noises at his brother and pulled faces as Kíli tugged his hair. Thorin quietly excused himself to fetch the others. Upon entering he found only Balin and Dwalin in the room talking. "Where are the elves?" He asked with a frown.

"They said that they didn't want to impose on your time with Fíli, however they will stop by tomorrow as they've asked to meet with us to discuss the reason for their visit."

"And that would be...?"

"Their father would like to look at an agreement of sorts between us. Apparently there has been an increase in Orc movement on the roads and as their home is a home base for many Rangers they want permission to grant access to the Rangers to patrol this area, or for us to arrange for Dwarven patrols to venture out further to cover more land. Lord Elrond is also open to a potential trade route for supplies but is leaving that up to you, the security is his main priority."

Thorin nodded, he didn't like to think about an agreement with elves on any day, but after what had happened with Fíli, well it just proved that perhaps their lands weren't as secure as he had believed. "Meet with them tomorrow. If the Orc pack that was on the outskirts is part of this increase they're referring to then we need to know what we're looking at and be prepared. I won't go to the meeting as I don't think I can remain fair in opinion, they may not be Thranduil's kin but they are elves and I don't know if I will be able to look past that. Make the right decision Balin and I will listen to the final agreement."

Balin nodded as Thorin's reply was of no surprise to him. "How did it go with Fíli?"

"Perfectly, I think I'm going to dread when they're older and can start thinking up plans themselves. Mahal have mercy they won't be terrors, but I feel my pleas are falling on deaf ears." Thorin replied with a grin. "You can come see him now if you like."

The three made their way back to Fíli and spent several hours talking and laughing amongst themselves whilst Fíli kept hold of his brother for as long as he could.

* * *

><p>The next day came by swiftly, Thorin helped collect Dís' belongings and shifted them back to their home as Oin had given her and Kíli the all clear to leave, but he insisted Fíli remain behind one more night. Thorin had told Fíli that he would stay with him that night and promised to bring him a treat.<p>

Currently he was sitting outside with Fíli on his lap who was playing with the toy he had painted, and Kíli was asleep in a basket on the chair next to him when Balin hailed them. He looked over and saw Dwalin, Elladan and Elrohir following along behind and he nodded in greeting to the four.

Fíli looked up and when he saw the elves he scrambled off Thorin's lap, wincing when he pulled at his stitches and raced over, both elves kneeling to envelop him in a hug. Balin chuckled as they went to Thorin, Dwalin stayed standing keeping an eye on Fíli whilst Balin sat and handed over a piece of paper.

"How did the meeting go?" Thorin asked, looking at his advisor rather than the paper.

"Good, I had Dwalin and the head of the human guard section sit in as well to discuss current patrols and what we would need if we were to increase the distance they cover. We also had to look at supplies for weapons, food and cloth to get those on patrol through. Elladan and Elrohir had quite a few suggestions from about what they've done and other Rangers they've met. The lads are heading home today before joining up with a Ranger group for the next 5 years. They've promised to stop by when they're in the area to find out how the patrols are going and share information they've picked up on the road."

Thorin nodded as he read through the agreement that Balin had written up. "I'm happy with this; it doesn't take too many soldiers far from home which would leave us vulnerable, and it will give all our soldiers valuable training and practise. Let's get these signed so they can be on their way, I'm sure they're missing their home."

Balin nodded and he and Dwalin followed Thorin into the Healing House to sign the contract so the elves could take a copy back with them.

* * *

><p>"Hello Mellon! You're looking much better today! How do you feel?" Elrohir asked, poking Fíli's nose gently making the dwarfling giggle.<p>

"Good!" Fíli explained proudly, pulling the front of his shirt down to show his battle scar, Oin had unwrapped the bandages to let it breathe a bit, the stitches showing clearly against the warm skin.  
>Elladan and Elrohir grinned at their friend, whose personality was the complete opposite to what it had been when they first met him. Before either of them could say anything however, a whimper from the basket had Fíli turning in surprise before grabbing the twins' hands with a grin and pulling them towards the bench.<p>

"You have ta meet my bwover!" the small dwarfling said excitedly as they got closer. Once he was at the bench he let go of their hands and scrambled up so he could lean into the basket and place a kiss on Kíli's head.

He looked at the elves excitedly. "This is my baby bwover. His names Kili, like my name!"

"Hello Kíli, I'm Elladan"

"and I'm Elrohir"

"at your service" they said in unison with a bow, making Fíli giggle and setting them off too.

"So Fíli" Elladan said as he sat on the ground in front of the dwarfling whose head was currently in the basket as Kíli had grabbed onto his hair again, "Is being a brother as horrible as you thought?"

Fíli blushed as he shook his head "No, Kíli's my bestest fwend. I wuves him loads and…" Whatever Fíli was about to say was cut short as he wrinkled his nose in disgust. "Eww Kíli! Unca Thowin!" Fíli whined loudly to Thorin's approaching form "Kíli's pooped AGAIN! He doesn't stop!"

Elladan and Elrohir burst out laughing at the disgruntled dwarflings face as he tried and failed to get his face out of the basket thanks to his brothers' already strong grip.

"Fíli, babies are going to do that sort of stuff a lot. You were just as bad when you were a baby." Thorin said with a sigh, untangling Fíli's hair from his brothers' hand, sparing his nephew the smelly torture. He scooped Kíli out of the basket looking slightly green, he was a warrior who had killed vile creatures and had seen some of the worst injuries around, yet give him a soiled nappy and he looked like he was ready to be sick. To his utter relief Dís appeared around the corner to save him.

"Mama! Kíli pooped again!" Fíli said, holding his nose to exaggerate his point.

"Well it's a good thing I arrived then isn't it, your Uncle isn't the brave dwarf he claims to be." Dís said teasingly as she took Kíli off Thorin and kissed her baby on the forehead.

"Unca Thowins the bwavest!" Fíli said indignantly, raising his arms to Thorin to be picked up which the older dwarf did obligingly, settling Fíli on his hip. "Him and Mista Dwawin says so cause he wives with us." Fíli said proudly, grabbing Thorin's face and planting a kiss on his cheek, because clearly living with them was a good thing.

Balin, Elladan and Elrohir burst out laughing at Dís' glare at her brother and his best friend, whilst said brother and friend looked horrified.

"Is that so?" Dís asked, looking pointedly at the two dwarves.

"Dunno what yer lads talkin' bout Dís." Dwalin said shaking his head rapidly.

Fíli swivelled in Thorin's arms so he could look at Dwalin "But you said Unca was bwave cause he could…" The rest of Fíli's sentence was drowned out as Thorin clamped a hand over his nephew's mouth, earning a muffled squeak from the dwarfling.

"I'm sure your mother doesn't need to know everything little lion."

"Mmhm. I'll remember that Thorin." Dís said with pursed lips and a raised brow. Thorin sighed in defeat, he knew Dís would go out of her way now to make his and Dwalin's lives a misery until she was happy.

"Here are the contracts we agreed upon." Balin said still chuckling, handing the paper to the grinning elves who split the pile in half and double checked them.

After a brief discussion together the twins looked at the gathered dwarves. "Everything appears to be in order, our father and the rangers who pass through Rivendell will be most thrilled to learn about your agreement to patrol increases. Hopefully with more land in friendly hands we'll be able to stop this spread of evil." Elladan said with a small smile.

"One last thing about Rangers, anyone who is going on extended trips that is likely to take them near a tavern and want information on any activity on the road, make sure they know to present one of these," Elrohir said as he pulled a gold coin out of his pocket and handed it to Dwalin "to the barkeep and he'll point them to the nearest Ranger. Keep that and make replicas of it, that way all your patrols will have one."

Dwalin, Thorin and Balin looked at the coin curiously. It was small, about the size of an egg, and perfectly circular and golden. On the inside on each side was an inscription of a bow and arrow, sword and axe in the middle, with the words peace, justice and protector written in the tongues of Elves, Men and Dwarves around the edge on both sides.

"To own one of these shows that you belong to a greater cause, hopefully together we can thwart this evil for good. Too many have died so far because this evil has been allowed to roam freely across the land, let us hope we can end that." Elladan said fiercely.

"Let us hope." Balin agreed.

Elrohir let out a whistle and their two horses appeared from around the corner, looking well rested with their packs and weapons already secured.

"In the meantime, it is time we took our leave. As much as we would like to stay we unfortunately need to report to our father before the month is out, we're meant to join up with a Ranger group the day after our return in order to train new recruits. Thank you for your hospitality, we know we got off to a bumpy start, but your kindness and trust has not been lost on us and for that we are grateful." Elrohir said, inclining his head to the dwarves in front of him.

Elladan smiled at his brother before addressing the group himself. "Perhaps, somewhere down the road we will meet again. I'm rather looking forward to returning and seeing Fíli again when he's a little older, and getting to see Kíli also would be a great treat, the same as seeing what their relationship will be like."

"You're weaving!?" Fíli sobbed out, squirming in Thorin's arms until he was put down before running to the elves and launching himself at their legs.

"I'm sorry Mellon, but it is something that has to happen, we cannot stay forever." Elladan said gently as he stroked Fíli's head.

"How would you like to come with us to the front gate to see us off?" Elrohir asked with a kind smile at the devastated dwarfling.

Fíli's bottom lip quivered as he looked up and between the two elves before nodding.

"I think Kíli and I will join you, it's not every day one can say they made interesting friends." Dís said with a smile, silently giving the elves permission which they both looked grateful for. Elladan carefully picked Fíli up and placed him on his horse, showing him how to hold the reigns for safety much to Fíli's delight. The elves placed themselves on either side of Fíli, Elrohir holding the other horses reigns and together with the group of dwarves they made their way to the gate. On the trip over Fíli chatted animatedly about all the things he was going to do with Kíli when he was older, both elves smiling whenever Fíli looked behind him to check on his brother, or when Fíli whispered loudly about all the trouble they might be able to cause and made to promise not to tell a soul. The older dwarves followed behind, Dís closer to the elves than the others in order to keep an eye on her son and ask the elves questions before they left.

Much too soon for Fíli's liking they reached the gate, and Fíli quietened down every step closer. Once they were in the courtyard Elrohir made to help Fíli down but Thorin stopped him.

"Leave him be for a moment. A word with you both if I may?"

Elladan and Elrohir looked at each other briefly in surprise but followed Thorin away from the group, not failing to notice the curious looks the others were giving them. When Thorin was satisfied with the distance between Dís, Dwalin and Balin he stopped and turned to face the elves.

"Is everything alright?" Elladan asked with concern clear on his face.

"There is something I need to ask you, however I'm not sure how to ask it." Thorin said slowly, face furrowed in thought as he tried to find the right words.

Both elves waited patiently for Thorin to speak again. "When you healed Fíli," he began slowly as he recounted the events, "just after you collapsed there was a moment where I thought you had failed. He didn't move or show any sign of breathing, he just lay there as though he was gone. And then Kíli…" He looked up with confusion written all over his face at the elves who were listening with interest. "Kíli… he, clapped at Fíli, made a gurgling noise at him and suddenly he started breathing again. Was this just coincidence or something more?" Thorin knew he probably sounded like a right dolt when he asked, after all how were they supposed to know? But there was no one else in Ered Luin who had travelled as far or lived as long as they had, so to him they were likely to be the ones with the answers, no matter how much his stomach was churning and causing bile to rise in his throat when he asked them.

The elves spoke to each other rapidly in their own language, nods and shakes of their heads thrown in for good measure, making Thorin clutch at his own as the speed in which they were talking was making his head spin.

The elves looked back at Thorin apologetically when they realised the discomfort they were causing. "We cannot say for certain what it was. Like you said it is possible it was just coincidence, however we have heard of similar things happening before, in fact we've got one ourselves, it's very rare but it's not unheard of. The closest name we can give to describe it is a soul-bond, it's like…" Elladan trailed off, struggling to find the right words to describe it.

"It's like you are two halves of a whole, like your souls are connected. It forms the closest of bonds between siblings, from the way we understand it normally it's only twins such as ourselves that it happens to, but perhaps with your nephews being so close in age it works in a similar way. It won't connect them in any other way, they will live their lives as they see fit, get married to whom they wish, have children, move away, but they will always have a love for each other that no one else can break, an absolute trust in each other that no one could question or challenge. Fíli will always be working to make sure his brother is safe and is always protected, Kíli will be the exact same however he may be less obvious about it than his brother. They will work better together than alone and will always know if the other is hurt." Elrohir said quietly for his brother, aiming a look at his twin which showed Thorin they were indeed speaking the truth.

"A word of caution however, when they begin their training you must remain firm on what you view to be the more important rather than what they want. They are likely to want to start training at the same time, however they need to be aware of the need to be able to fight alone as their paths in the future may take them in separate directions and I'm sure you wouldn't want either to be at a disadvantage."

Thorin nodded thoughtfully. He knew that training the boys would likely be difficult, especially if they were adamant about doing it together. However there was one thing he was grateful for and it was knowing that they would grow up with a strong relationship, there were likely to be rough patches along the way, but at the end of the day they would be there for one another and they would love each other unquestionably, and that was all he could really ask for. "Thank you, you've helped put my mind at ease for the time being about their future. It's a relief to know that when all is said and done they will always be there for each other."

The elves inclined their heads to Thorin before heading back towards the others, Thorin following behind feeling as though an invisible weight had been lifted from his shoulders making him feel light for the first time since all this began.

When the elves reached the others Elladan moved to Fíli and lifted the dwarfling off the horse. He placed Fíli on the ground and he and Elrohir knelt in front of him. "Don't forget us little one, no matter how many years pass, injuries or battles you go through, remember you always be considered our brother mellon."

"And we will never forget you, that is a promise." Elrohir added. Fíli looked at both elves, nodding shyly before throwing his arms around their necks and hugging them tightly. The elves squeezed him back, before pulling away to address the others.

"Again, thank you for everything you have done for us, your kindness means much to us. May the light of the Valar protect you." Elladan said, and he and Elrohir crossed their right arm over their chests, touching their hearts before extending their arms outwards with a bow of their heads.

Dís bowed to the twins. "And thank you, for everything that you have done for my family, it will never be forgotten nor your kindness and willingness to help. May Mahal's hammer defend you and watch over you on your journeys." She clasped their hands gently in her own with a kind smile.

The twins bowed their heads in acknowledgement before bowing to the other dwarves with her. Thorin and Dwalin inclined their heads whilst Balin gave them a bow. The elves turned back to Fíli gave him one last hug each before mounting their horses.

"Farewell friends and may luck and good fortune bless you." Elladan said as he turned his horse.

"Ourselves and Rivendell will offer you aid any time, you need only ask." Elrohir added, and together they turned their horses towards the gate and set off for their long journey home.

"Goodbye Mewon-nin's." Fíli whispered, watching his two friends disappear from the town.

And if Elladan and Elrohir heard the quiet farewell from a certain dwarfling then that was only for them and the wild to know.

* * *

><p>Thorin sighed as he looked up at the clouds. Getting breaks like these had been few and far between in the weeks since the elves had left the town, and just having the chance to lie back on a blanket and stare up at the clouds with Fíli and Kíli by his side was a welcome peace, at least until Kíli could start talking. Thorin turned his head and looked to his two nephews who were lying between him and Dís who was on the other side of the blanket. Kíli was wrapped up warmly and was slowly falling asleep as Fíli was pointing at the clouds telling him what he could see and occasionally looking to his mother if he couldn't say the name. Moments later Kíli's eyes had shut and Fíli, noticing this as the ever observant brother he had become, wrapped an arm around his baby brother and curled into his side, closing his own eyes with a content sigh.<p>

As Fíli moved his arm to wrap around his brother the top of his loose shirt shifted enough to show Thorin the pink scar on his chest, the only indication of the horrors his family had gone through not too long ago. He thought about how Balin had taken over organising the patrols for the roads, many Dwarven warriors excited to further their skills with the assistance of a group of Rangers that had been sent to them courtesy of two certain elves. He thought about going home every night and relearning what it was like to have a newborn in the house as well as an eager five year old who wanted to help in every way possible.

He also thought about the trip that he and Dwalin had taken to the human part of town, to visit a certain child and his family. There were surprises for both parties that day; Drégo's mother learning about what her son had been doing to innocent children and the consequences of his actions, Thorin about who the boy's father had been, but more disturbingly the kind of man he was, the one who fed lies to his child about loving his family yet every night was spent at the tavern in the arms of alcohol and a wench only to return and beat his wife nearly unconscious in his drunken stupor whilst their son slept.

Despite the damage the boy had almost caused, Thorin found he couldn't remain angry at the lad after what he learnt, the boy had been lashing out due to poisonous lies his father had been whispering in his ear for years. He offered to set the boy up with a trade, help him pick the right path, but instead Drégo's mother had told Thorin that it was time to rejoin her parents in Rohan, make a new start for both her and her son where anger and grief were no longer present. Thorin had promised to send a letter to the horse Lord explaining their situation and asking him to assist them with settling down, which the King had done happily with open arms. According to the letter he had received that morning, both mother and son were doing well in their new home, Drégo was learning to be a stable hand and horse trainer, whilst his mother was now a healer. Everyone had come away happy with the situation and few tears were shed, which in Thorin's mind was a victory.

He rolled onto his side and shuffled closer to his nephews, wrapping a protective arm around his sleeping boys giving Dís a small smile before closing his own eyes, because for now, life was good.


End file.
